7/28/2019 Music and Literacy - Special Learners
1/4
32
Music and Literacy
Alice-Ann Darrow
Literacy acquisition is a primary concern for
alleducatorsincluding those who teach music.Although a music
teachers foremost task is to teach music
skills, a childs ability to read text has important implica-
tions for his or her success in learning to read music. A
childs ability to read affects not only music learning but
every other aspect of academic life as well. Music educators
serve their students and themselves well when they use the
valuable tool of music to enhance a childs ability to read
and appreciate literature. The magic of music can entice a
child to practice various reading-related tasks, often
withoutthe child even being aware of the learning objective.
Currently, the nation is implementing national legislation
designed to teach every child to readthe No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002).
A major intent of this act is to screen children for early
read-
ing failure so that they can begin remediation early in
their
school career. Federal grants go to states that fund
specific
projects designed to carry out this presidential initiative.
There are frequent disagreements regarding the type of
instruction that should be employed to accomplish these
legislative objectives. Alarmingly, 30% of children have
dif-
ficulty reading, and no single method seems to be effectivefor
all children with literacy problems. Approximately 17%
of the school-age population is categorized as having a spe-
cific learning disability (SLD). This category has the
great-
est incidence of any of the special education areas, and it
is
the designation for funding and remediation of reading
problems (Foorman, Fletcher, & Francis, 1997).
Literacy specialists and educators have shifted among
various philosophies of reading instruction (Foorman,
Fletcher, & Francis, 1997). Emphasis on phonics gave
way to whole-language instruction, which was replaced
by scripted phonics and standardized testing preparation.
In a review of the scientific literature in reading instruc-
tion, Foorman et al. cited the following results critical to
understanding how reading problems occur and the rela-
tionship between auditory discrimination abilities and
visual recognition skills:
Reading problems occur at the level of the single
word because of failure to quickly decode visual
information.
Decoding is dependent on sensitivity to the sound
structure of language rather than on comprehen-
sion. That is, a child recognizes that words rhyme
or sound different, a skill that is separate from rec-
ognizing the words meaning.
To decode language information, alphabet letter
recognition must be paired with phonetic sound pat-
terns to acquire skills in sound blending and
wordsegmentation.
Attention, memory, and comprehension skills
derive from the above.
It is widely believed that music learning, music reading,
and music participation enhance academic achievement,
especially reading and math (Tucker, 1981). Regardless of
the method of literacy instruction, there is a growing body
of
literature that supports specific music experiences and
activ-
ities to teach and practice essential literacy learning
compo-
nents. Previously noted abilities involving printsuch as
book handling, concepts of print, sense of story and
sequence, printed letter and symbol recognition, basic
spelling patterns, and early writing activitiesare eas-
ily incorporated in and paired with music experiences.
Opportunities for collaboration among individuals from var-
ious professions, such as music and education, are encour-
aged but are not frequently noted in research-based
literature.
Parallel skills in music and reading include phonologi-
cal awareness, phonemic awareness, sight word identifica-
tion, orthographic awareness, cueing systems awareness,
and fluency. There are preliminary studies that correlate
childrens ability to read with their ability to discriminate
pitches accurately (Fisher & McDonald, 2001; Hansen
&
Bernstorf, 2002). Additionally, Anvari, Trainor, Woodside,
and Levy (2002) found significant correlations between the
music skills, phonological awareness, and reading devel-
opment of 4- and 5-year-old children.
General Music Today
Volume 21 Number 2
Winter 2008 32-34
2008 MENC: The National
Association for Music Education
10.1177/1048371308316411
Alice-Ann Darrow is Irvin Cooper Professor of Music Education
and Music Therapy at Florida State University, Tallahassee
(e-mail:
[email protected]). Parts of this column were adapted from other
publications by the author.
Special Learners
7/28/2019 Music and Literacy - Special Learners
3/4
34 General Music Today
Hansen, D., & Bernstorf, E. (2002). Linking music learning
to read-
ing instruction.Music Educators Journal, 88(5), 1721.
Hurwitz, I., Wolff, P., Bortnick, B., & Kokas, K., (1975).
Nonmusical
effects of the Kodly music curriculum in primary grade
children.
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 3(3), 167174.
Madsen, C., & Geringer, J. (1976). Choice of televised music
lessons
vs. free play in relationship to academic improvement. Journal
of
Music Therapy, 13(4), 154162.
Pelletier, H. (1963).An investigation of the relation between
training
in instrumental music and selected aspects of language growth
in
third grade children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Arizona
State University, Tempe.
Register, D. (2001). The effects of an early intervention music
curricu-
lum on prereading/writing.Journal of Music Therapy, 38,
239248.
Register, D. (2004). The effects of live music groups versus an
edu-
cational childrens television program on the emergent literacy
of
young children.Journal of Music Therapy, 41, 227.
Register, D., Darrow, A. A., Standley, J., & Swedberg, O.
(2007). The
use of music to enhance reading skills of second-grade students
and
students with reading disabilities. Journal of Music Therapy,
44,
2337.
Roskam, K. (1979). Music therapy as an aid for increasing
auditory
awareness and improving reading skill.Journal of Music
Therapy,
16(1), 3142.
Staum, M. (1974). The effect of a music and non-music auditory
per-
ceptual remediation program on the psycholinguistic skills
of
children: A pilot study. Unpublished masters thesis, Florida
State
University, Tallahassee.
Standley,J. (in press). Does music instruction help children
learn to read?
A meta-analysis of the research literature. The Reading
Teacher.
Standley, J., & Hughes, J. (1997). Evaluation of an early
intervention
music curriculum for enhancing pre-reading/writing skills.
Music
Therapy Perspectives, 15, 7985.
Tucker, A. (1981). Music and the teaching of reading: A review
of the
literature.Reading Improvement, 18(1), 1419
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). The No Child Left Behind
Act of
2001. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from
http://www.ed.gov/offices/
OESE/esea/exec-summ
