The relationship between the production of word stress and musical abilities in Polish learners of English

Gralińska-Brawata, Anna; Rybińska, Paulina

doi:10.1515/rela-2017-0015

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The results for Polish secondary school learners of English with and without music education showed a correlation between perception and production of language and music, suggesting that both music perception and production can be good predictors in successful L2 learning. A fairly recent pilot study by Gralińska-Brawata and Rybińska (2017) investigated the production of word stress and its connection with musical abilities, where Polish advanced learners of English were asked to answer a questionnaire related to music, perform a music perception and production test, and read a set of commonly mispronounced words. The results suggest a possible relation between the correct word stress and superior musical abilities, although the authors pointed out the need for a larger sample.…”

Section: Polish Learners Of Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musical Hearing and Musical Experience in Second Language English Vowel Acquisition

Jekiel

Malarski

2021

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose Former studies suggested that music perception can help produce certain accentual features in the first and second language (L2), such as intonational contours. What was missing in many of these studies was the identification of the exact relationship between specific music perception skills and the production of different accentual features in a foreign language. Our aim was to verify whether empirically tested musical hearing skills can be related to the acquisition of English vowels by learners of English as an L2 before and after a formal accent training course. Method Fifty adult Polish speakers of L2 English were tested before and after a two-semester accent training in order to observe the effect of musical hearing on the acquisition of English vowels. Their L2 English vowel formant contours produced in consonant–vowel–consonant context were compared with the target General British vowels produced by their pronunciation teachers. We juxtaposed these results with their musical hearing test scores and self-reported musical experience to observe a possible relationship between successful L2 vowel acquisition and musical aptitude. Results Preexisting rhythmic memory was reported as a significant predictor before training, while musical experience was reported as a significant factor in the production of more native-like L2 vowels after training. We also observed that not all vowels were equally acquired or affected by musical hearing or musical experience. The strongest estimate we observed was the closeness to model before training, suggesting that learners who already managed to acquire some features of a native-like accent were also more successful after training. Conclusions Our results are revealing in two aspects. First, the learners' former proficiency in L2 pronunciation is the most robust predictor in acquiring a native-like accent. Second, there is a potential relationship between rhythmic memory and L2 vowel acquisition before training, as well as years of musical experience after training, suggesting that specific musical skills and music practice can be an asset in learning a foreign language accent.

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Section: Polish Learners Of Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musical Hearing and Musical Experience in Second Language English Vowel Acquisition

Jekiel

Malarski

2021

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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“…There are studies suggesting that there may be a discrepancy between selfreported musicality and musicality tests (e.g. Govaart 2014;Gralińska-Brawata & Rybińska 2017). This may be the result of inadequate self-assessment of one's abilities or inappropriate design of the more objective testing tools.…”

Section: Musicality Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language and Music: Designing a Course at an Academic Level

Gralińska-Brawata

2023

RiL

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The parallels that are present between language and music, together with popular beliefs that musicality may be a factor enhancing language learning, especially with regard to pronunciation, prompted the idea of designing an academic course whose main aim was to demonstrate the relation between the two domains from the linguistic perspective. There were eighteen students participating in the course which was an elective for 1st year MA students of English at the University of Łódź. The course content included presentation of direct links between language and music, and of selected studies indicating the influence of music on developing various aspects of linguistic performance, e.g. second language learning (e.g. Pastuszek-Lipińska, 2008; Kolinsky et al., 2009), early reading abilities (Fonseca-Mora et al., 2018) or pitch processing (Besson et al., 2007). The practical part of the course involved testing the students' musical abilities with the use of various tools: tests available online and a sample of a music school entrance exam (based on Rybińska et al., 2016). The participants completed tasks related to their English speech performance, i.e. recording the passage The North Wind and the Sun and analysing their English speech production with the use of acoustic speech analysis software (Praat) in order to learn about the ways in which they could explore the possible links between their musicality and performance in L2 English. The majority of students claimed that they had not been aware of the degree of interplay between language and music, and had overestimated their musical abilities prior to taking the tests, but they saw the potential of music training not only in language learning, but other spheres of human activity.

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Using music in a word stress processing task

Degrave

2022

ITL

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Previous studies have reported that the use of music-related activities (e.g. hand-clapping or songs) can help learners to acquire foreign languages. It remains unclear, however, whether music-based approaches help every learner equally or whether it is more beneficial for learners with a musical background, such as musical practice, musical abilities, or engagement in musical activities. In order to answer this question, we tested 80 French speakers whose musical background was evaluated using a questionnaire. They performed a word stress processing task in Dutch containing spoken stimuli, spoken stimuli with a beat, or sung stimuli. The results show that learners with some musical characteristics obtain higher scores than other learners and that the use of music in the task can favor learners with a musical background.

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The relationship between the production of word stress and musical abilities in Polish learners of English

Cited by 6 publications

References 11 publications

Musical Hearing and Musical Experience in Second Language English Vowel Acquisition

Musical Hearing and Musical Experience in Second Language English Vowel Acquisition

Language and Music: Designing a Course at an Academic Level

Using music in a word stress processing task

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