Reports from the USA and the UK suggest that they are facing a literacy crisis. Whilst much research focuses upon the teaching of the alphabetic principle as a starting point for literacy success, more important are the foundational competencies and experiences, which children bring to their formal literacy learning. It is these that determine a child’s ease of entry to the educational system.

Research to date suggests a strong relationship between music and language and that musical activities are advantageous to literacy learning, yet music cannot teach reading.

Through a pragmatic, sociocultural lens, this research used a micro-ethnographic, action research study of nine children, aged three to five years, daily, over a ten-week period, to explore how a literacy-focused musical programme can be designed and delivered to promote foundational literacy competencies and experiences. Data from video recordings were analysed through hybrid coding.

The findings revealed that when engaging musical activities which promote auditory, motor, cognitive, language and timing skills, with elements of dialogic teaching are integrated in a Literacy-through-Music program, focusing on explicit literacy outcomes such as language and phonological and prosodic awareness, children develop skills which will support literacy learning. Observation of the activities also offered the presenter a panoptic view to possibly identify children at risk of reading failure.

Highlighting the features of an integrated Literacy-through-Music programme provides a unique contribution to current literature and shows how such a programme can obviate the need for transfer from musical to literacy skills.

Authors:
Maria Kay, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Maria Kay is currently an educational consultant and a freelance teacher-trainer, offering bespoke training programmes. She is interested in everything education-related, especially literacy, and is a prolific writer.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-maria-kay

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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