Musical aptitude and foreign language learning skills - neural and behavioral evidence about their connections
Perceiving music and language seems to depend upon subtle and accurate auditory processing skills. Could music and language also share common neural resources? Possible interaction between music and speech memory systems has not been ruled out. On the contrary, there is increasing evidence pointing out the accuracy at perceiving phonetic contrasts in native or foreign language of subjects with musical aptitude or musical training. The main focus of this study was to examine the relationship between musical aptitude and linguistic abilities, especially in terms of second language pronunciation skills. We examined 10-12-year-old elementary school children’s ability to preattentively process musical features in music and speech stimuli. Sound processing accuracy was examined by means of event-related potential (ERP) recordings and behavioural measures. Those children with superior performance in foreign language production and musicality tests seem to show more pronounced sound-change-evoked activation in response to the music stimuli than subjects with less accurate linguistic skills. Our study provides further evidence for the claim that musical aptitude and linguistic skills are interconnected.
...
Conference
ESCOM 2009 : 7th Triennial Conference of European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of MusicMetadata
Show full item recordCollections
- ESCOM 2009 [101]
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Investigating Syntactic Complexity in EFL Learners' Writing across Common European Framework of Reference Levels A1, A2, and B1
Khushik, Ghulam Abbas; Huhta, Ari (Oxford University Press, 2020)The study investigates the linguistic basis of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing. Specifically, it examines whether CEFR levels can be distinguished ... -
Adults learning Finnish as a foreign language : role of support, emotions and reasons connected with learning
MacKenzie, Ashley (2015)The purpose of this research study was to examine adults learning Finnish as a foreign language while striving to understand the reasons behind their decisions to do so, the support that was individually offered to the ... -
The Influence of Goal Orientation, Past Language Studies, Overseas Experiences, and Gender Differences on Japanese EFL Learners’ Beliefs, Anxiety, and Behaviors
Nakayama, Akira; Heffernan, Neil; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Hiromori, Tomohito (Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä, 2012)The purpose of this study was to examine how Japanese students’ past language studies, in formal classroom settings during their elementary school years and their overseas experiences before entering university, affected ... -
A matter of perspective : the cognitive style Field Independence - dependence, and why it matters
Laine, Veera (2016)Psykologi Herman Witkin aloitti vuonna 1948 kognitiivista ajattelutapaa tutkivan suuntauksen, jossa ihmiset jaettiin kahteen ryhmään: kenttäriippuvaisiin ja kenttäriippumattomiin. Kenttäriippumattomuutta ja -riippuvaisuutta ... -
Do concepts and methods have ethics?
Laihonen, Petteri (Language on the Move, 2020)