The enhanced music rhythmic perception of second language learners of English

Rhythm is an organizational device in language and in music. In both domains, rhythm helps to structure the sound stream (speech or music), by grouping auditory events, that is, sounds and pauses, into meaningful units together in a hierarchical manner. In language, speech rhythm is of importance because it helps speech segmentation and intelligibility and it belongs to the linguistic inventory of a language. Mastering the rhythmic properties of a language is just as important as mastering any relevant linguistic information. When learning a second language (L2), together with its vocabulary and grammar, second language learners must also master a set of rhythmic properties that are either in partial or in complete overlap with their first language or that are completely different. This is the case because languages of the world diverge in terms of their use of rhyhtmic properties and metric preferences. Previous research has described the world' s languages as being stress-timed,...Show moreRhythm is an organizational device in language and in music. In both domains, rhythm helps to structure the sound stream (speech or music), by grouping auditory events, that is, sounds and pauses, into meaningful units together in a hierarchical manner. In language, speech rhythm is of importance because it helps speech segmentation and intelligibility and it belongs to the linguistic inventory of a language. Mastering the rhythmic properties of a language is just as important as mastering any relevant linguistic information. When learning a second language (L2), together with its vocabulary and grammar, second language learners must also master a set of rhythmic properties that are either in partial or in complete overlap with their first language or that are completely different. This is the case because languages of the world diverge in terms of their use of rhyhtmic properties and metric preferences. Previous research has described the world' s languages as being stress-timed, syllable-timed or mora-timed languages. Stress-timed languages, from which English is the exemplary item, have the metric foot as their unit of speech perception and production. The metric foot is a combination of one stressed syllable dominating zero or more unstressed ones. In syllable-timed languages, is the syllable, regardless of stress that functions as unit of speech production and perception. In mora-timed languages, it is the mora, a sub-unit of the syllable. Being sensitive to different sets of rhythmic properties may present an advantage to L2 learners, as these could help them more promptly identify and select the target language. Previous research has shown that individuals who master languages with different rhythmic properties are more sensitive to music rhythmic variation than individuals who master languages with similar rhythmic preferences or with very low-proficiency in an L2. The current thesis addresses two of these claims, namely, that learning languages with similar rhythmic properties does not present such an advantage to rhythmic perception as mastering languages with distinct use of rhythm; and that learning a second language, regardless of its rhythmic similarities to or differences from one's first language, enhances individuals' rhythmic perception. This thesis does so by conducting two meta-analyses, using data from two different studies by Roncaglia-Denissen and colleagues (2016; 2013). The results support both claims, namely that learning a second language with similar rhythmic properties as one's first language does not present such a great advantage as mastering languages with different rhythmic properties and that proficiency in a second language is positively associated with individuals' music rhythmic perception. The implication of these findings is that speech rhythm seems to be part of a domain-general skill, which is used in and transferred to different cognitive domains, whenever acoustic similarities between domains are encountered.Show less

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The enhanced music rhythmic perception of second language learners of English