Music and the Cognitive Process – Student Perceptions

Music has been used to aid cognitive processing for decades. Recent advances in medical technology have provided empirical evidence of the effects of music on the structure of the brain as well as on the cognitive, affective and motor components of the brain. Since the 1960’s, an increasing number of educators have attempted to maximize the learning process by integrating music in their curricula. This paper focuses on the student as it explores second language learners perceptions of the effects of music on the cognitive process involved Key terms: neuromusicology, neurolinguistics, music and education, music and cognitive processing, student perceptions on music and learning “I would teach the children music, physics and philosophy, but the most important is music, for in the patterns of the arts are the keys to all learning.” (Plato) Introduction Music embodies the spirit of all humanity and provides a powerful way of conveying meaning to the human heart and mind. There is no culture, no people or group that is without some form of musical expression. In fact, music like language is unique to the human species (Blacking, 1973). All genres of music have the power to elicit a multitude of cognitive, affective and motor responses depending on the listener. Even the most stoic among us succumbs to its influence. One may shed a tear in response to a somber melody, unconsciously tap a toe to a lively tune or simply wax nostalgic as some vivid memory of an episode long since passed but somehow connected to a musical experience is recalled. Since music affects the whole human experience, and since we continue to seek out some sort of musical experience, we must be aware of the effects to some degree. This brief report explores the awareness and perceptions of second language learners regarding music as an aid to learning. As background, recent research in neuromusicology will be introduced. In the next section, the research method used to gather information needed to answer the research questions will be explained and will be followed by the presentation and analysis of the findings in order to determine the degree to which students are aware of music and its effects on the cognitive process related to learning. Literature Review “It can be said that the musical brain is modularized. That is, musical experiences are multimodal, involving at the least the auditory, visual, cognitive, affective, memory and motor systems.” (Hodges, 2002) Furthermore, Hodges states that motor and other physiological responses such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure and the like have been observed and documented, and that recent advances in medical technology have allowed neuroscientists to take a closer look at specific structural changes in the brain in response to musical stimuli. As a result, incontrovertible evidence that the electrochemical neural wave patterns as well as the general topography of the brain are affected by expressive or receptive musical events has emerged. Hodges lists the following premises derived from neuromusical research: The human brain has the ability to respond to and participate in music. The musical brain operates at birth and persists throughout life. Polyglossia Volume 19, October 2010 144 Early and ongoing musical training affects the organization of the musical brain. The musical brain consists of extensive neural systems involving widely distributed, but locally specialized regions of the brain: o Cognitive components o Affective components o Motor components. The musical brain is highly resilient. During the past decade, several studies on the human brain and memory recall have shown that exposure to music not only alters brain function but increases it as well. Wallace (1994) documented and validated the use of music to enhance memory performance. Schellenberg (2005) studied the effects of music on general intellectual performance, and Fox, Knight and Zelinski (1998) investigated the relation between music and mood. Peterson and Thaut (2006) used an electroencephalogram (EEG) to evaluate changes in brain wave patterns by using a modified version of Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) where subjects heard a word list that was recited or sung. The results of the Peterson-Thaut study suggest that verbal learning with background music improves brainwave activity in the area of the brain involved in verbal encoding. Furthermore, music has been shown to strongly affect the learner’s attitude, motivation, anxiety level, acculturation, personality and mood. (Hodges, 2002). While there is literature that asserts that music is distinct from linguistic and other cognitive processing, research clearly provides evidence that music influences linguistic and cognitive process. In light of this evidence, it is no surprise that educators, in particular language educators constantly in search of techniques that can enhance learning, if not accelerate it, increase retention of material taught, and be easily incorporated into the classroom curriculum, have considered using music to enhance second language learning. One of the first proponents of the use of music as an aid to language learning was Dr. Georgi Lozanov, an educator and psychiatrist at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, who in the late 1960’s and 70’s pioneered the field of accelerated learning by incorporating various psychological techniques such as playing soft music, encouraging relaxation techniques, using positive suggestion and administering biofeedback to improve cognitive processing (as reported in Pattison, 2006). This technique used by Lozanov came to be known as Suggestopedia (more recently referred to as “Desuggestopedia to reflect the importance placed on desuggesting limitations on learning” (as cited in Larsen-Freeman, 2000)) and eventually gained favor among language educators; consequently, it gave rise to the growing fields of neuromusicology as well as neurolinguistics. Considering the increased use of music as a learning aid and the attention given to such techniques by educators since Lozanov’s initial research, the question of whether or not teacher recognition of the benefits has also transferred to the learner can be put forward. Do we, as learners, naturally employ music to enhance learning in general because “...through music we are able to discover, share, express, and know about aspects of the human experience that we cannot know through any other means”? (Hodges, 2002) This brief report investigates the perceptions that English language students at a Japanese university have of music and the cognitive process involved in language learning specifically. 1. Are students somehow aware of the cognitive benefit and the affective impact of listening to music? 2. More specifically, is the average student of English somehow cognizant of the effect of music on the brain such that they actively choose to use music to aid the learning process? 3. What genre(s) of music do students choose to listen to while studying, and are their choices ideal? Method A simple voluntary on-line survey conducted in English was made available to intermediate and advanced students of English enrolled in English language courses at a University in Kyushu, Japan. The survey was made available through Blackboard course links for each class level. Blackboard is an online course management tool designed to allow students and teachers to access and use Music and the Cognitive Process – Student Perceptions 145 material that complements face-to-face learning. This was done in order to learn more about students’ study habits in relation to music and to gain insight into their perceptions of music and the learning process. A total of thirty-six (36) students responded to the survey. Of the (36) who responded to the survey, two (2) students were from China, one was from Korea, one was from Vietnam, one was from Myanmar, and one was from Taiwan. One student chose not to give information on their country of origin. The remaining twenty-nine students (80.5%) were Japanese. As indicated in figure 1, the respondents were 50% male and 50% female. Figure 2 indicates the class levels of students who took the survey. Twenty-five students (72.2%) were studying English at the intermediate level. Ten students (27.8%) were advanced level students.