Music Enhanced Language
and Auditory Processing Treatment
by
Music has been used for centuries to enhance memory and learning. Early examples of this are societies that rely on oral traditions to maintain collective memory. Large amounts of complex information are learned and accurately passed on from generation to generation with the aid of simple, predictable melodies (e.g., chants).
What is the scientific explanation for the relationship between music, language and learning?
The effect of music on learning has long been attributed to music’s ability to relax and focus the mind. It was also thought that melodies might serve as simple mnemonic devices. This indirect enhancement rationale was supported by the belief that music and language were processed independently in different parts of the brain (i.e., the left brain right brain paradigm).
Can this knowledge be used to help students with language and auditory processing disorders?
Language and auditory processing disorders are characterized by difficulty
- Understanding what has been said
- Putting words together to communicate ideas
- Hearing and remembering what has been said
Traditional treatment strategies include:
- Working with synonyms and definitions
- Working with figurative language
- Sentence and word repetition tasks
- Rhyming tasks
- Unscrambling sentences presented orally
These straightforward language and auditory processing activities involve memory and learning. Strategies that improve memory and stimulate learning will enhance a student’s progress. Adding music to the activity broadens the area of the student’s brain that will be engaged in the process and thus facilitates improvement.
However, not just any music will do. It must be music that has a simple predictable melody. The goal is to augment the language component of the activity, not overshadow the language with music.
The On Clear Water Curriculum Guide consists of language and auditory processing goals and objectives tied to carefully selected songs with simple predictable melodies. The lyrics to the songs serve as the basis for traditional language and auditory processing exercises.
I have been using a music-enhanced treatment approach since 1998 with favorable results. This is not to say that traditional methods without music would not have been successful. However, using music accelerates the process.
Music enhanced activities are important to the overall success rate. Students who see progress quickly remain motivated and benefit more from treatment.
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Hudson, MA 01749
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Although perceived as quite different, music and language have much in common. Language is a codified method of conveying information in an understandable reproducible way. Spoken language relies on grammar, syntax, and prosody (changes in intonation, pitch and timing) to convey meaning.
Music functions in much the same way. It has notation rules (grammar), scales (syntax) and relies on intonation, pitch and timing (prosody) to deliver information. It should not be surprising that language and music processing significantly overlap one another in our brains.
However, research has begun to show that brain interactions involve far more overlap than previously thought. Evidence is mounting that music and language are processed together in neural networks by areas that were once considered totally independent.
