Singing and Language

The Guardian reports this week on a new book from Sally Goddard Blythe, a consultant in neuro-developmental education and director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology. The book is titled ‘The Genius of Natural Childhood’, to be published by Hawthorn Press. In the book, Blythe discusses how melodies and inflections of traditional rhymes prepare a child’s brain for language acquisition.

Child development continues to be a major source of research across many different academic fields and disciplines. Child language acquisition is of particular interest to speech and language therapists. Identifying what factors help a child to acquire their native language with ease and success could potentially guide intervention for those children who have had more difficulties with language acquisition.

Blythe states that too much emphasis is placed on reading, writing and numeracy during early years development, and not enough on the benefits of singing. She argues that singing is a ‘special’ type of speech that carries the salient or signature melodies and inflections of a mother tongue, preparing a child’s ear, voice and brain for language.

Blythe also believes that listening to and singing along with rhymes and songs uses both sides of the brain. She states that evidence from neuro-imaging studies (such as MRIs or CT scans) “has shown that music involves more than just centralised hotspots in the brain, occupying large swathes on both sides.” It is widely felt that the ‘traditional’ language centres of the brain are based in the left hemisphere. Blythe’s implication is that music and singing activate considerably larger parts of the brain and can help support the smaller language centres.

You can read The Guardian’s article here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/singing-children-development-language-skills

If you feel that you or someone you know may benefit from speech and language therapy, Integrated Treatment Services could be of help. Contact us here: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry/

Sarah Bennington May 2011

Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. ITS is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.

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