Matching Verbal Description to Music Excerpt: The Use of Language by Blind and Sighted Children

Abstract

Forty-one sighted and 17 blind children listened individually to six short music excerpts and described them orally. Each child's descriptions were recorded, transcribed, and randomly ordered. Then, a panel of 10 music teachers attempted to assign each description to its intended excerpt. Teachers were able to match description to excerpt with about the same degree of accuracy for blind and sighted children. Descriptions were more easily matched at successive grade levels. Analysis of types of language used showed that sighted children remained consistent in number of musical elements described across age-groups; however, blind students increased substantially in their descriptions of musical elements at each successive level (kindergarten, primary, upper elementary). Sighted children used significantly more metaphors and emotional descriptors than did blind children. The use of temporal language increased with age, particularly among the blind students, but there were no statistical differences due to visual ability in the present study.