Reference: Andrade, P., Müllensiefen, D., Andrade, O. V. C. A., Dunstan, J., Zuk, J., & Gaab, N. (2023). Sequence processing in music predicts reading skills in young readers: A longitudinal study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 002221942311577.

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As many of us have witnessed, young children like to play the role of an amateur musician. They bang pots and pans and piano keys, make noises with their mouths, drum on the table, or sing silly songs; even babies kick their feet in time with a musical rhythm. Whether the auditory outputs of children’s early music-making are enjoyable depends on the child and on the listener. However, a recent study suggests that besides leading to noisy playrooms, children’s musical skills could in fact be a useful tool for predicting their future reading ability (1). Measuring these skills might help us identify children who need some extra help through the process of developing literacy.

The saying goes that children go from ‘learning to read’ in early elementary school towards ‘reading to learn’; developing these early reading skills is critical for their later learning (2). Entire research centers and government departments are devoted to supporting children’s early literacy skills. Yet today we see alarmingly high rates worldwide of below grade-level reading proficiency among elementary schoolers, especially in developing countries or low-income areas where schools have fewer resources for specialized reading interventions. One major factor contributing to this disparity is the scarcity of standardized assessments for diagnosing reading difficulties, even in higher-income school settings. Most common tests take time, money, and personnel that schools often cannot afford.

Developing a music-based test for language

In 2013, Zuk, Andrade et al. aimed to start addressing this gap in the research (3). Among 45 second-grade children from average-income households attending one school in Brazil, they tested a task that screens for reading difficulties by measuring “musicality”, an untrained sense for music. Their musical sequence transcription task (MSTT) takes advantage of the fact that speech and music share many sound properties. Both include similar patterns of spectral qualities (pitch) and temporal qualities (rhythm) and include larger sound units (like a melody or word) that can be broken into smaller units (like a tone or syllable). Because of this, both music and speech processing require phonemic awareness, the ability to tease apart and manipulate those smaller sound units that make up the larger ones.

For the MSTT, children first learn to match two sets of two-tone chords played on guitar to specific symbols, either an “O” or an “I” shape. Pairs of chords are at least an octave apart so that they are different enough that only significant auditory problems would affect performance. During experimental trials, children hear sequences of four chords that play at regular intervals, assuring they are processing pitch alone and not rhythm. After nine sequences, the child is asked to use the symbols they learned to write the tone sequences they heard (see image for examples). Recalling all four tones correctly is considered one correct response. The researchers claimed that the number of correct responses a child provides demonstrates their skills with sequencing auditory patterns, a marker of phonemic awareness important for language and music processing.

Evaluating how well the musical sequence transcription task predicts long-term reading

Results for this 2013 study support a language-music link: lower MSTT scores were associated with lower reading scores (3). However, the researchers only evaluated reading performance in the same year. Andrade et al. (2023) extended these results by evaluating whether MSTT scores predicted later reading ability, and whether phonemic awareness differences might underlie this relationship. To investigate these ideas, they followed up with 41 children from the original sample both one and three years later, when the children were in third and fifth grade. They assessed the children’s phonemic awareness, reading skills, and rapid object naming skills (i.e., how quickly they recall the names of objects and numbers they are shown), which reflects language processing speed. They estimated models to visualize the interrelationships between these variables at different time points and second-grade MSTT performance.

Andrade et al. found that MSTT scores reliably predicted short- and long-term reading ability. Reading scores in second, third, and fifth grade all showed strong relationships with second-grade MSTT and phonemic awareness scores. These relationships were equally strong with reading scores across all three time points. While researchers also found that rapid object naming, a skill not linked to the MSTT, was more strongly related to average reading ability in second grade, this relationship was weaker with third-grade and fifth-grade reading scores. This outcome suggests that the MSTT may be a marginally weaker, but also a more stable predictor of reading over time. Consistent with this idea, a separate analysis showed that models that only accounted for second-grade MSTT scores were just as effective for predicting low vs. high-scoring readers in fifth grade as those models that also accounted for second-grade scores in phonemic awareness and rapid object naming. In other words, assessing performance in the MSTT could predict a child’s reading performance years later without assessing these other language-associated skills.

The importance of these findings moving forward

Overall, this study supports the MSTT as a useful task for predicting reading skills and identifying especially low-performing readers that might need extra support. Importantly, this means that we may have a feasible new option for screening children’s early reading needs that would be more equally accessible across school contexts. The MSTT is less reliant on cultural knowledge than many other language-based tasks; music is universal. It requires little training and no equipment besides an instrument or audio device, can be run by one person, and takes just over 30 minutes. In addition, this could provide job opportunities for professionals who studied music or music education, who often have a hard time finding employment given the lack of funding devoted to the arts. Of course, more research needs to be conducted to validate the MSTT in countries besides Brazil, with more children in general, and with children that have more varied life experiences (e.g., different household incomes). However, this article and the MSTT represent a creative step towards modifying standard practices in reading education towards being more inclusive and accommodating of children and educators with diverse backgrounds and needs.

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Image Reference: Adapted from Andrade et al., 2013 and https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-woman-playing-guitar-7120850/

Additional References:

1. Pino, M. C., Giancola, M., & D’Amico, S. (2023). The Association between Music and Language in Children: A State-of-the-Art Review. Children (Basel), 10(5), 801. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10050801
2. National Center To Improve the Tools of Educators, Eugene, OR. (1996). Learning To Read, Reading To Learn: Helping Children with Learning Disabilities To Succeed. Information Kit. In Education Resource and Information Center (ERIC) (No. ED398691). Special Education Programs (ED/OSERS), Washington, DC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED398691
3. Zuk, J., Andrade, P., Andrade, O. V. C. A., Gardiner, M., & Gaab, N. (2013). Musical, language, and reading abilities in early Portuguese readers. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00288