An Experimental Study of the Relationship Between Musical Note-reading and Language Reading

Book excerpt: The problem of the study was to investigate the effects of a regular program of practice in note-reading on the rate of word-reading (RWR) in below normal readers. Level of pretest RWR scores, sex, and age were identified as variables in the study. The purpose of the study was 1) to evaluate the RWR gains of fifth grade students of below normal RWR who were given a six-week program of daily note-reading practice on a keyboard instrument, and 2) to compare these results with the RWR gain of fifth grade students of below normal RWR who were not given the program of daily note-reading practice, when pretest RWR scorews, sex, and age were held constant. The research was a separate sample pretest-posttest experimental-control equivalent materials true-experimental design. Acievement in RWR was sampled in one grade level of below normal readers who were enrolled in remedial reading classes. The instrument used for measurement was the "Basic Reading Rate Scale" (BRRS), Forms A and B, by Miles A. Tinker and revised by Ronald P. Carver. The sample of thirty-six subjects consisted of students who were enrolled in fifth grade remedial reading classes in the six elementary schools of the Grandview Consolidated School District No. 4, Grandview, Missouri. All schools have predominantly white populations and are in the lower-through upper-middle socio-economic bracket. Although all subjects in fifth grade remedial reading were used, eighteen subjects were randomly designated as the experimental group, and seventeen were randomly designated as the control group. Complete sets of data for thirty-three subjects were obtained. Form A of the BRRS was administered as the pretest. Subjects in the experimental group were instructed to practice for speed for ten minutes each school day for six weeks on specially-prepared note-reading sheets. These exercises increased gradually in difficulty according to numbers of notes played. All subjects were then post-tested with Form B of the BRRS, and the data were computer-processed for statistical significance by one-way analysis of variance. Planned comparisons were analyzed by a Scheffé test of difference between means. No significant gain in RWR was demonstrated by subjects in the experimental group as a whole, but subjects who pretested in the lower half of the group did increase significantly over the control group. No significant difference was demonstrated according to sex or age. Within the limitations and circumstances of the investigation, the program of note-reading practice appears to have been effective onnly for increasing the RWR of very slow readers. Further investigation under other circumstances is warrented before positive conclusions can be reached.