Prosodic sensitivity and reading fluency of musicians and non-musicians

This study investigates the effects of prosodic sensitivity on reading. Highly capable adult musicians (i.e., persons with potentially excellent prosodic skills) and non-musicians were compared in terms of prosodic sensitivity and reading. Furthermore, the study examines possible reciprocal effects...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reading & writing 2021-04, Vol.34 (4), p.887-909
Main Authors: Obergfell, Anja L., Schmidt, Barbara M., Stenneken, Prisca, Wittemann, Sonja K., Schabmann, Alfred
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College Students
Education
Fluency
Foreign Countries
German language
Language and Literature
Linguistics
Literacy
Musicians
Musicians & conductors
Neurology
Phonological Awareness
Prosody
Psycholinguistics
Reading
Reading Achievement
Reading Fluency
Reading Tests
Social Sciences
Suprasegmentals
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study investigates the effects of prosodic sensitivity on reading. Highly capable adult musicians (i.e., persons with potentially excellent prosodic skills) and non-musicians were compared in terms of prosodic sensitivity and reading. Furthermore, the study examines possible reciprocal effects of prosodic sensitivity and reading. Sixty native German-speaking university students, musicians ( n  = 30) and non-musicians ( n  = 30), completed three measures of prosodic sensitivity on the sentence level. In addition, word and nonword reading were tested. To check for possible reciprocal effects of prosodic sensitivity and reading, groups of musicians and non-musicians matched on the reading level as well as the prosodic sensitivity level were compared. The results showed that musicians outperformed non-musicians in two of the three prosodic sensitivity measures and both reading measures. Considering subgroup analysis this seems to indicate a non-reciprocal effect of prosodic sensitivity on reading. Moreover, when controlling for phonological awareness, prosodic sensitivity showed a unique effect on reading in the whole sample. Based on the results, we argue that good prosodic sensitivity can facilitate reading performance.
ISSN:0922-4777
1573-0905
DOI:10.1007/s11145-020-10096-4