The role of early improvement of the music listening skill in the development of speech perception. Lessons learned from a music development program

Abstract

The study looks at the relationship of musical and language skills from a pedagogical point of view. It gives an overview of the research dealing with the impacts of early improvement of music skills in the development of phonological skills that is in learning reading. Moreover, the study describes a music development program called Látható hangok (Visible Sounds), which was developed for preschool children and elementary school students. The program was tested both in Sweden and Hungary. The study briefly summarizes the results and the lessons learned from these experiments. Based on the experiences, it concludes that by improving music perception the method successfully facilitates the development of speech perception. Thus the program helps in the preparation for the acquisition process of reading and spelling among preschool children and elementary school students. Based on the literature review and the development program the study provides important viewpoints for the research on how to reform music education.