A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation
Recent findings have shown that people with higher musical aptitude were also better in oral language imitation tasks. However, whether singing capacity and instrument playing contribute differently to the imitation of speech has been ignored so far. Research has just recently started to understand...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00482/full |
| _version_ | 1830271314258034688 |
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| author | Markus eChristiner Susanne Maria Reiterer Susanne Maria Reiterer |
| author_facet | Markus eChristiner Susanne Maria Reiterer Susanne Maria Reiterer |
| author_sort | Markus eChristiner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent findings have shown that people with higher musical aptitude were also better in oral language imitation tasks. However, whether singing capacity and instrument playing contribute differently to the imitation of speech has been ignored so far. Research has just recently started to understand that instrumentalists develop quite distinct skills when compared to vocalists. In the same vein the role of the vocal motor system in language acquisition processes has poorly been investigated as most investigations (neurobiological and behavioral) favor to examine speech perception. We set out to test whether the vocal motor system can influence an ability to learn, produce and perceive new languages by contrasting instrumentalists and vocalists. Therefore, we investigated 96 participants, twenty-seven instrumentalists, thirty-three vocalists and thirty-six non-musicians/non-singers. They were tested for their abilities to imitate foreign speech: unknown language (Hindi), second language (English) and their musical aptitude. Results revealed that both instrumentalists and vocalists have a higher ability to imitate unintelligible speech and foreign accents than non-musicians/non-singers. Within the musician group, vocalists outperformed instrumentalists significantly. Conclusion: first, adaptive plasticity for speech imitation is not reliant on audition alone but also on vocal-motor induced processes. Second, vocal flexibility of singers goes together with higher speech imitation aptitude. Third, vocal motor training, as of singers, may speed up foreign language acquisition processes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:02:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d478d5e14878426c94a5ddf37c6fddaa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:02:19Z |
| publishDate | 2015-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-d478d5e14878426c94a5ddf37c6fddaa2022-12-21T20:48:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612015-08-01910.3389/fnhum.2015.00482153925A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitationMarkus eChristiner0Susanne Maria Reiterer1Susanne Maria Reiterer2University of ViennaUniversity of ViennaUniversity of ViennaRecent findings have shown that people with higher musical aptitude were also better in oral language imitation tasks. However, whether singing capacity and instrument playing contribute differently to the imitation of speech has been ignored so far. Research has just recently started to understand that instrumentalists develop quite distinct skills when compared to vocalists. In the same vein the role of the vocal motor system in language acquisition processes has poorly been investigated as most investigations (neurobiological and behavioral) favor to examine speech perception. We set out to test whether the vocal motor system can influence an ability to learn, produce and perceive new languages by contrasting instrumentalists and vocalists. Therefore, we investigated 96 participants, twenty-seven instrumentalists, thirty-three vocalists and thirty-six non-musicians/non-singers. They were tested for their abilities to imitate foreign speech: unknown language (Hindi), second language (English) and their musical aptitude. Results revealed that both instrumentalists and vocalists have a higher ability to imitate unintelligible speech and foreign accents than non-musicians/non-singers. Within the musician group, vocalists outperformed instrumentalists significantly. Conclusion: first, adaptive plasticity for speech imitation is not reliant on audition alone but also on vocal-motor induced processes. Second, vocal flexibility of singers goes together with higher speech imitation aptitude. Third, vocal motor training, as of singers, may speed up foreign language acquisition processes.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00482/fullMemorysecond language learninglanguage aptitudemusicalitySpeech imitationvocal flexibility |
| spellingShingle | Markus eChristiner Susanne Maria Reiterer Susanne Maria Reiterer A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Memory second language learning language aptitude musicality Speech imitation vocal flexibility |
| title | A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| title_full | A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| title_fullStr | A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| title_short | A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| title_sort | mozart is not a pavarotti singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation |
| topic | Memory second language learning language aptitude musicality Speech imitation vocal flexibility |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00482/full |
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