15.3.5: Strategies that Support Language Development-Singing
- Page ID
- 173862
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Singing
While infant-directed speech has been extensively investigated, research on infant-directed singing and its relationship with language development is gaining more attention (Falk & Tsang, 2020; Papadimitriou et al., 2021). Across most cultures, caregivers naturally sing to infants throughout the day (Fernald, 1992; Hilton et al., 2022; Trehub & Trainor, 1998; Yan et al., 2021). In fact, one study captured daylong audio recordings from thirty-five 6 to 12 month old infants and found that 100% of the infants heard both live and recorded music (Mendoza & Fausey 2021). However, not all children are exposed to singing daily. Nationally in the U.S., only 57.4% of infants and toddlers are sung to everyday (Keating, 2021). Comparing the prevalence of daily singing with infants and toddlers across the U.S., Texas had the lowest prevalence (47.6%), Alaska had the highest (72.3%) and California was just under the national average (56.4%) (Keating, 2021). Similar to infant-directed speech, infant-directed singing is characterized by higher pitch and slower tempo than non-infant-directed versions of the same songs by the same singers (Trainor, Clark, Huntley & Adams, 1997; Trehub, Hill & Kamenetsky, 1997; Trehub et al., 1998). [1] [2] [3]
Two common types of songs for infants and toddlers include lullabies and play songs. In line with their soothing function, lullabies feature very slow tempo, low pitch, falling pitch contours, limited amplitude variation, and soothing tone of voice (Trehub, Trainor & Unyk, 1993; Trehub & Trainor, 1998; Unyk, Trehub, Trainor & Schellenberg, 1992), properties that are shared with soothing infant-directed speech. Although play songs are commonly sung to Western infants, unlike lullabies, they are not universal (Trehub & Trainor, 1998). Examples of play songs are “Old MacDonald had a farm”, “Five little monkeys jumping on the bed” and “The wheels on the bus”. [4]
Research indicates that infants find infant-directed singing more engaging and prefer to listen to it compared to non-infant-directed singing (Masataka, 1999; Nakata & Trehub, 2004; Trainor, 1996; Tsang, Falk & Hessel, 2017). Singing lullabies to infants, even unfamiliar lullabies in an unfamiliar language, helps infants relax and enter a calmer state (Bainbridge et al., 2021). Songs allow infants to capitalize on the acoustic boundary cues within song melodies to organize a continuous song into structurally relevant parts and recognize different phrases while the song unfolds. For example, six month old infants are able to segment children’s songs into phrases (Hahn, Benders, Snijders & Fikkert, 2020). Already before their first birthday infants are able to recognize changes in the syllable order in songs (François et al., 2017; Lebedeva & Kuhl, 2010; Suppanen, Huotilainen, & Ylinen, 2019; Thiessen & Saffran, 2009), differentiate between rhyming and non-rhyming songs (Hahn, Benders, Snijders, & Fikkert, 2018), and learn novel words recurring in the song lyrics (Snijders, Benders, & Fikkert, 2020). Furthermore, infant-directed singing is related to later language development. Specifically, higher levels of infant-directed singing is related to greater language comprehension abilities in infants and later language skills in toddlerhood (Franco et al., 2020; Papadimitriou et al., 2021; Schaal et al., 2020). [5] [6]
Early newborn neural responses to singing predicts later language development at 18 months (François et al., 2017). Even a short, one-month intervention at nine months of age was found to be associated with enhanced neural responses for temporal structure processing in both music and speech contexts, compared to a control group (Zhao & Kuhl, 2016). This research suggests that detection and prediction of auditory patterns, crucial skills for both music and speech, were positively affected by early musical activities. [7]
Similar to infant-directed speech, infant-directed singing is more engaging and has the potential to positively influence children’s language development. Caregivers can take advantage of the power of singing by including singing across a range of activities. While singing to calm a child or while putting them to sleep is common, caregivers can include singing through daily routines and activities and create short songs in the moment.
[1] Franco et al., (2020). Singing to infants matters: Early singing interactions affect musical preferences and facilitate vocabulary building. Journal of Child Language, 1-26. CC by 4.0
[2] Yan et al., (2021, preprint). Across demographics and recent history, most parents sing to their infants and toddlers daily. CC by 4.0
[3] Corbeil et al., (2013). Speech vs. singing: Infants choose happier sounds. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 372. CC by 3.0
[4] Corbeil et al., (2013). Speech vs. singing: Infants choose happier sounds. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 372. CC by 3.0
[5] Corbeil et al., (2013). Speech vs. singing: Infants choose happier sounds. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 372. CC by 3.0
[6] Hahn et al., (2020). Six‐month‐old infants recognize phrases in song and speech. Infancy, 25(5), 699-718. CC by 4.0
[7] Franco et al., (2020). Singing to infants matters: Early singing interactions affect musical preferences and facilitate vocabulary building. Journal of Child Language, 1-26. CC by 4.0