Musical Aptitude: A Factor in the Improvement of Pronunciation Skills?

71 Pages·2013·1.69 MB·English

by  Dita Massey

Masarykova univerzita

Pedagogická fakulta

Bakalářská práce

Brno 2013

Dita Massey
MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Musical Aptitude: A Factor in the Improvement of
Pronunciation Skills?

A tentative case study

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2013

Thesis Supervisor: Author:
Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. Dita Massey
Bibliografický záznam
Massey, D. (2013). Musical Aptitude: A Factor in the Improvement of Pronunciation Skills?
Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury.
Vedoucí bakalářské práce Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D.
Anotace
Bakalářská práce Hudební nadání: Faktorem ve zdokonalení dovednosti ve
výslovnosti? je zaměřena na otázku, zda má hudební nadání vliv na zdokonalení dovednosti
ve výslovnosti v anglickém jazyce. Teoretickou část tvoří čtyři základní kapitoly: zahraniční
studie prokazující spojitost mezi hudebním nadáním a výslovnostní dovedností; metody
testování hudebního nadání; metodologie výuky výslovnosti a rozdíly mezi rytmem a intonací
v českém a anglickém jazyce. Praktická část obsahuje podrobný popis výsledků studie
provedené v období tří měsíců, za účelem potvrzení nebo vyvrácení hypotézy této bakalářské
práce.
Annotation
The bachelor thesis Musical Aptitude: A Factor in the Improvement of Pronunciation
Skills? deals with a question of whether musical aptitude has an impact on the improvement
of English pronunciation skills. The theoretical part comprises of four main chapters: studies
showing a causal link between musical aptitude and pronunciation proficiency; methods of
testing musical aptitude, methodology for teaching pronunciation skills and the differences
between Czech and English rhythm and intonation. The practical part contains a detailed
commentary of the results of a study conducted over a period of three months, in order to
confirm or refute the hypthotesis of this bachelor thesis.

Klíčová slova
Hudební nadání, dovednost ve výslovnosti, adaptace výšky tónu, rytmus, učební dril,
opakování, intonace, větný přízvuk, vázání
Keywords
Musical aptitude, pronunciation skills, adaptive pitch, rhythm, drilling, repetition, intonation,
sentence stress, linking
Affirmation:
I declare that I wrote this bachelor thesis myself and I used only the sources listed in the
enclosed bibliography.
I agree that the thesis will be deposited in the library of the Faculty of Education at Masaryk
University in Brno and made available for academic purposes.

......................................
Acknowledgements:
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to my supervisor Mgr. Irena
Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D for her kind help and guidance and pertinent advice that she
has provided throughout my work on this thesis.
I would also like to express my appreciation to all the students who devoted their time and
made a special effort towards this study.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 8
1 STUDIES SHOWING A CAUSAL LINK BETWEEN MUSICAL APTITUDE AND
PRONUNCIATION PROFICIENCY ................................................................................. 10
1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 10
1.2 Relations between music and language ...................................................................................................... 10
1.3 Foreign studies ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
1.3.1 Study conducted in Finland ........................................................................................................................................ 11
1.3.2 Study conducted in France .......................................................................................................................................... 12
1.3.3 Study conducted in British Columbia ..................................................................................................................... 13
1.4 Study conducted in the Czech Republic ...................................................................................................... 13
2 METHODS OF TESTING MUSICAL APTITUDE .............................................................. 14
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
2.2 Edwin Gordon’s Musical Aptitude Profile (MAP) ...................................................................................... 15
2.3 Carl Seashore’s original Measures of Musical Talent .............................................................................. 16
2.4 Jake Mandell .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
2.4.1. Adaptive Pitch test .......................................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.2. Rhythm test ........................................................................................................................................................................ 17
2.4.3. Tone-deaf test ................................................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.4. Musical – visual test ........................................................................................................................................................ 18
3 METHODOLOGY FOR TEACHING PRONUNCIATION SKILLS ......................................... 19
3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
3.2 Method of drilling ............................................................................................................................................... 19
3.3 Method of repetition .......................................................................................................................................... 19
4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CZECH AND ENGLISH RHYTHM AND INTONATION ................ 21
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
4.2 Differences between Czech and English rhythm ..................................................................................... 21
4.3 Differences between Czech and English intonation ............................................................................... 22
5 TESTING MUSICAL APTITUDE .................................................................................... 24
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
5.2 Methodology for testing musical aptitude ................................................................................................. 24
5.3 Analysis of results, musical aptitude test ................................................................................................... 24
5.3.1 Adaptive pitch test .......................................................................................................................................................... 25
5.3.2 Rhythm test ........................................................................................................................................................................ 25
5.3.3. Tone-deaf test ................................................................................................................................................................... 25
6 TESTING PRONUNCIATION SKILLS ............................................................................. 29
6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 29
6.2 Methodology for testing pronunciation skills .......................................................................................... 29
6.2.1. Sentence stress ................................................................................................................................................................. 29
6.2.2. Intonation............................................................................................................................................................................ 29
6.2.3. Linking and rhythm ........................................................................................................................................................ 30
6.3 Analysis of results, initial pronunciation skills test ............................................................................... 30
6.3.1. Sentence stress ................................................................................................................................................................. 30
6.3.2. Intonation............................................................................................................................................................................ 31
6.3.3. Analysis of recordings ................................................................................................................................................... 33
6.4 Analysis of results, final pronunciation skills test .................................................................................. 35
6.4.1. Sentence stress ................................................................................................................................................................. 35
6.4.2. Intonation............................................................................................................................................................................ 37
6.4.3. Analysis of recordings ................................................................................................................................................... 39
7 METHODOLOGY FOR REGULAR PRACTICE OF PRONUNCIATION SKILLS ...................... 43
8 OVERALL RESULTS OF THE STUDY AND ITS FINDINGS ................................................ 44
8.1 Student 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 47
8.2 Student 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 47
8.3 Student 3 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 48
8.4 Student 6 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 48
8.5 Student 8 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 49
8.6 Student 4 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 50
8.7 Student 5 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 50
8.8 Student 7 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 51
8.9 Student 9 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 51
8.10 Student 10 ................................................................................................................................................................ 52
9 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ 53
9.1 Conclusions............................................................................................................................................................ 53
9.2 Recommendations .............................................................................................................................................. 54
APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................................... 59
APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................................... 61
APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................................... 63
APPENDIX 4 .................................................................................................................... 70
APPENDIX 5 .................................................................................................................... 71
Introduction
The question of defining a relationship between musical ability and an
aptitude for foreign language pronunciation skills has been the subject of
academic debate for a considerable amount of time now. Original studies in the
early 90s, which hinted at a causal link, have been strengthened by more recent
studies in 2010 by the likes of Milovanov et al.
The main objective of this thesis is to supplement as well as to challenge
these existing findings by focusing on the influence of musical aptitude on the
actual improvement of English pronunciation skills, over a defined period of
time. Put simply, is it possible to determine whether a subject’s musical ability,
or lack of it, can stimulate and contribute to incremental pronunciation skill
training?
The stimulus for this research stems from the author’s experience as an
English language classroom teacher in the Czech Republic. In preparation for
this study, the results of related foreign studies were carefully assessed. Their
summaries form the initial section of the Theoretical part of this study and are
preceded by certain characteristics that link music and language together.
Secondly, the current best practice methods of testing musical aptitude were
closely examined. This research was done for the purpose of evaluation of
musical ability of the subjects taking part in the study and its findings form the
second section of this part. Furthermore, a commentary on the methodology for
teaching pronunciation, drilling and repetition, is provided as these were
fundamental features in the implementation of the study. Finally, differences
between Czech and English rhythm and intonation are examined, concluding the
Theoretical part.
The Practical part consists of the completion of the study and its
proceedings. It begins with discussing the adopted methodology for testing
musical aptitude, which was carried out at the start of the study period and
proceeds with a comprehensive analysis of the results. The discussion then
moves to explaining the methodology used for testing pronunciation skills,
accomplished both at the inception as well as the completion of the study period,
in order to measure any improvement. An analysis of the results for each of the
two tests is also presented in this section.
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A methodology for the regular practice of pronunciation skills comprises a
detailed description of the process of pronunciation skills practice, carried out
routinely during the study period. It is the overall improvement in fluency and
accuracy of imitation of speech that are the principal focus of the study. The
main features of pronunciation practice as well as testing are therefore placed on
sentence stress, rhythm, linking and intonation. In addition, overall results of the
study and its findings are specified for each subject individually.
Finally, the practical part of the thesis concludes with an assessment of the
conducted research and how it relates back to its hypothesis as well as
established theory. Recommendations for subsequent studies and improvements
to the study methodology are also presented.
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THEORETICAL PART

1 Studies showing a causal link between musical aptitude and
pronunciation proficiency
1.1 Introduction
The purpose of this section is to consult and summarize findings from
previous studies that may demonstrate causal links between musical aptitude and
pronunciation proficiency. Institutions from several countries carried out tests
involving groups of students to determine whether music may have the capacity
to facilitate the learning of certain language skills. These tests were based on
musical ability testing as well as pronunciation skills testing. There is, however,
still very little knowledge about the influence of musical aptitude on language
learning.

1.2 Relations between music and language
The relationship between musical aptitude and linguistic abilities has been
evaluated in several research projects. However, even without taking the results
of this research into consideration, it is clear that music and language share
similar characteristics. For instance, rhythm and melody in music can be
considered the equivalents of stress and intonation in language. Other factors
exist that indicate certain correlations between music and language ability.
Franěk (2005) proposes that children are born with absolute pitch and this helps
them to learn their mother tongue as well as to acquire the accent of a second
language. However, absolute pitch declines with age, unless maintained through
music-related activities.
Similar to absolute pitch, amusia1 is another factor, which strengthens the
case for a causal link between music and language. Sedlák (1988) highlights a
connection between pronunciation ability and sensory amusia that young children
suffer from. It decreases their ability to detect pitch, to reproduce simple melody
and feel music.

1 Amusia is a musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch.

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