A study on the relationship between musical ability and EFL pronunciation proficiency

This study investigates the relationship between musical ability and pronunciation proficiency of English as a foreign language [EFL] of university students of English philology. English pronunciation of the participants is evaluated by academic teachers of English in three categories: the general impression of the foreign or native accent, the accuracy of production of English sounds and the use of word stress and intonation. This experiment was conducted entirely online. Participants’ musical ability was tested using Gordon’s Advanced Measure of Music Audiation [AMMA]. The results of this study demonstrate a moderately positive correlation between musicality and FL pronunciation proficiency. The more musical students, the higher marks from the judges. The present findings seem to be consistent with other studies which suggest that musical skills may positively affect the acquisition of foreign language pronunciation.

Across-Channel Auditory Gap Detection

In studies of perceptual and neural processing differences between musicians and nonmusicians, participants are typically dichotomized on the basis of personal report of musical experience. The present study relates self-reported musical experience and objectively measured musical aptitude to a skill that is important in music perception: temporal resolution (or acuity). The Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) test was used to objectively assess participant musical aptitude, and adaptive psychophysical measurements were obtained to assess temporal resolution on two tasks: within-channel gap detection and across-channel gap detection. Results suggest that musical aptitude measured with the AMMA and self-reporting of music experiences (duration of music instruction) are both related to temporal resolution ability in musicians. The relationship between musical aptitude and/or duration of music training is important to music educators advocating for the benefits of music programs as well as in behavioral and neurophysiological research.

Meta-Analytic Evidence of the Criterion Validity of Gordon’s Music Aptitude Tests in Published Music Education Research

This meta-analytic study examined the validity of Gordon’s music aptitude tests as predictors of other musical variables. The four tests analyzed were the Music Aptitude Profile (1965), Primary Measures of Music Audiation (1979), Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (1982), and Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (1989). Separate analyses were performed for tonal, rhythm, and composite constructs of music aptitude. From 47 music education journal articles that met requirements for inclusion, 215 independent data points representing 6,086 participants were collapsed into an overriding set of five criterion categories: (a) aural perception, (b) achievement, (c) creativity, (d) affective outcomes, and (e) musical engagement. Moderators potentially affecting validity included audiation type, sampling method, grade level, criterion test type, and year of publication. Results revealed estimated true criterion-related validities of .45 (tonal), .46 (rhythm), and .53 (composite). Gordon’s music aptitude tests were consistently but not always strongly associated with many desirable musical outcomes. Analysis of correlations by subtest and criterion category produced mixed results, and high levels of between-study heterogeneity could not be explained through meta-regression moderator analysis.

Influencia de un entrenamiento en discriminación de estímulos tonales en la conciencia fonológica de niños preescolares. Estudio piloto / Influence of tonal stimuli discrimination in the phonologic awareness of preschool children. Pilot study

Los problemas de lectura están fuertemente asociados con el desarrollo del procesamiento fonológico y en particular con la conciencia fonológica. En el procesamiento fonológico esta involucrado el procesamiento de propiedades tonales y temporales de estímulos auditivos de carácter verbal y no-verbal. Este trabajo explora, por medio de un muestreo intencional, los efectos de un entrenamiento en discriminación de propiedades tonales de estímulos musicales en la conciencia fonológica de 28 niños de tercer grado de preescolar. Se aplicó una Batería de Conciencia Fonológica y la prueba Primary Measures of Music Audiation antes y después del entrenamiento. Posterior a la primera aplicación de los instrumentos, los participantes fueron asignados azarosamente a dos grupos: control y experimental. Los resultados revelaron que el grupo que recibió el entrenamiento tuvo mejores puntuaciones de manera significativa solo en dos tareas de la conciencia fonológica: identificación de sílaba inicial e identificación de la rima, sugiriendo que los efectos del entrenamiento tonal no son contundentes en la discriminación tonal de estímulos musicales ni en la conciencia fonológica. Relacionando estos resultados con lo reportado en otras investigaciones, se considera incluir otras actividades el entrenamiento.

The Relationship Between Phonological Awareness and Music Aptitude

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between phonological awareness and music aptitude. I administered the Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA) to second-grade students in a rural school in Pennsylvania ( N = 17). Speech-language specialists administered a hearing screening and The Phonological Awareness Test 2 (PAT-2) individually to participants and scored the measures. Findings indicated a moderate, positive relationship between PAT-2 standardized composite scores and IMMA raw Tonal subtest scores ( r = .485). A linear regression indicated IMMA raw Tonal subtest scores predicted PAT-2 standardized composite scores. The relationship between music aptitude and phonological awareness has implications for students, music teachers, and professionals who may remediate literacy skills, such as reading specialists, speech-language pathologists, and music therapists.

The psychometric characteristics of the Advanced Measures of Music Audiation in a region with strong non-Western music tradition

This study investigates the psychometric characteristics of Gordon’s Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) in a region with strong non-Western music tradition. It also examines the possibility of measuring audiation with the modern psychometric theory. The AMMA test was administered to 513 students in the city of Ioannina and a number of villages in the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece. Nonlinear factor analysis based on tetrachoric correlation coefficients confirmed a tone and rhythm structure in AMMA according to the theory of Gordon. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the tone and rhythm factor scores were .70 and .61 correspondingly. The Kuder and Richardson’s (KR-20) reliability coefficient for the 30 items was .55. A Rasch measurement model has a good fit. The analysis of the Rasch residuals has showed that the dimensions of AMMA do not distort the estimation of Rasch parameters. Further analysis of the 30 AMMA items has shown that they can be ordered in 10 levels of difficulty. The authors present items’ difficulty and persons’ level of audiation on the same interval scale and discuss the usefulness of the music ability tests that are based on aural stimuli.

Associations between two measures of music aptitude: Are the IMMA and the AMMA significantly correlated in a sample of 9- to 13-year-old children?

The aim of this study was to correlate musical aptitude scores derived from two tests based on the same structural model for musical aptitude in a sample of 9- to 13-year-old children. We controlled for the influences of socioeconomic status (SES; measured by parents’ education), the amount of music lessons, and general cognitive abilities (i.e., IQ). The sample comprised 89 (46 girls) 9- to 13-year-old children. We applied two different tests by Edwin Gordon: Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA) and Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) to measure musical aptitude. As control variables, IQ, socioeconomic status, and amount of music training were assessed. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the total score of the IMMA together with the control variables could not predict the total score of the AMMA. Furthermore, regression models for each of the subtests were also not significant. With respect to the control variables, we revealed an association between the IMMA and socioeconomic status as well as amount of music training. We conclude that even tests that are based on the same structural model of musical aptitude were not associated significantly. This might indicate problems of validity. Additionally, it seems to be difficult to assess musical aptitude independently of influences from music training and SES. Ultimately, this may support the notion that we still need valid musical aptitude tests for this particular age group.

The Relationship Between Children’s Use of Singing Voice and Singing Accuracy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationship between children’s use of singing voice (vocal register) and singing accuracy. In previous studies recorded examples of kindergartners’ (n = 37) and first graders’ (n = 38) singing were assessed with the Singing Voice Development Measure. For this study, these recorded examples were also evaluated for accuracy by two different raters. There was a significant correlation between children’s use of singing voice and singing accuracy, but no significant relationship for either variable with tonal aptitude as measured by Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation. When children’s accuracy was assessed based on their usable register, the influence of register on accuracy was very small suggesting that the relationship between vocal development and accuracy is a function of children’s access to, and control of, a wider singing range. Teachers interested in improving singing accuracy in their students are encouraged to work with them on expanding their usable vocal registers.