Music to promote early language

Foundations of language

The rhythm and intonation of speech are the foundations of language. It is the means by which one language can be identified from another, months before the child will say their first words. Listening to music in the womb is the starting point for developing listening, attention and early communication skills.

It is known that music and language processing are closely related in the brain. Babies have been studied shortly after birth using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners. Neuroscientists looking at brain responses to mother's speech, have found that babies use the music processing networks of their brain to understand their mother's voices. This TED-Ed lesson explains research about the brain's responses to listening to and playing music.

Winkler et al's (2009) study of newborn infants detecting the beat in music, supports the view that babies are born with the innate ability to perceive a beat. Newborn babies have been shown to expect rhythmic cycles and omitting the downbeat is detected in the baby's brain.

Nine month old babies who have been exposed to music intervention, show enhanced neural responses to music and speech in the audiotory and prefrontal cortices (Zhao & Kuhl, 2016). The prefrontal cortex of the brain is associated with executive functions and processes such as self-control, planning, decision-making and problem solving. This study showed that music intervention can impact speech learning and that musical stimuli can affect a baby's speech processing development.

Torppa amd Huotilainen's (2019) review article entitled: 'Why and how music can be used to rehabilitate and develop speech and language skills in hearing-impaired children' provides evidence for the strong connection between musical activities and the development of speech and language. They provide recommendations, ideas and advice for using music to develop language skills.

The web-page describes the ways in which music is an effective tool for learning languages.

References

Altissia. Music as an effective tool for learning language. [Online] Available at: https://altissia.org [Accessed: 16 April, 2021].

Collins, A. (2014) How playing an instrument benefits your brain. TED-Ed. [Online] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain?language=en#t-455 [Accessed: 16 April, 2021].

Torpa, R. & Huotilainen, M. (2019) Review Article 'Why and how music can be used to rehabilitate and develop speech and language skills in hearing-impaired children'. Hearing Research 380, pp. 108-122  [Online] Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595518301783​ [Accessed: 18 April, 2021].

Winkler,I., Haden,G., Ladinig,O., Sziller,I., Honing,H. (2009) 'Newborn infants detect the beat in music'. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. February 17, 106(7) pp. 2467-2471.

Zhao,T. & Kuhl, P. (2016) 'Musical intervention enhances infants' neural processing of temporal structure in music and speech'. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. May 10, 113(19) pp. 5212-5217.