Discussing Text-Melody Relationship in Children's Song-Learning and Singing: A Cantonese-Speaking Perspective

Abstract

Past music education research has indicated that words are of high significance in children's song acquisition. As some children learn words first, belief has come about that words are a distraction to children's learning of melodies in songs. This in turn has led to the implication that words and tunes should be taught separately. However, the existing research findings are inconsistent, and have not been thoroughly tested outside of Western culture. Furthermore, some psychological research has suggested that text and melody in songs are integrated in memory. Bearing these factors in mind, the present article reviews and explores the nature of text-melody relationship of songs in children's minds within various cultural contexts, especially considering Cantonese-speaking children. An integration hypothesis is proposed to explain children's cognitive processes involved in song-learning and recall. It is argued that the text-melody integration occurs, but involves specific levels: children's linguistic and musical abilities (the internal potential), the songs (the external stimuli) and children's cognitive strategies (the internal response); and that it exists in different degrees under the influence of age, sex and native language.