Musical plus phonological input for young foreign language readers

Based on previous studies showing that phonological awareness is related to reading abilities and that music training improves phonological processing, the aim of the present study was to test for the efficiency of a new method for teaching to read in a foreign language. Specifically, we tested the efficacy of a phonological training program, with and without musical support that aimed at improving early reading skills in 7–8-year-old Spanish children (n = 63) learning English as a foreign language. Of interest was also to explore the impact of this training program on working memory and decoding skills. To achieve these goals we tested three groups of children before and after training: a control group, an experimental group with phonological non-musical intervention (active control), and an experimental group with musical intervention. Results clearly point to the beneficial effects of the phonological teaching approach but the further impact of the music support was not demonstrated. Moreover, while children in the music group showed low musical aptitudes before training, they nevertheless performed better than the control group. Therefore, the phonological training program with and without music support seem to have significant effects on early reading skills.