Using music in a word stress processing task

Abstract

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.