Singing to Support Language Development
Music has a profound impact on our lives and often holds a special place in a child’s heart. Singing, in particular is a wonderful tool that has the ability to greatly contribute to a child’s language development. Below we will be exploring how singing can be a powerful ally in nurturing your child’s language abilities.
Vocabulary Expansion
Have you ever stopped to think about the words in your child’s favourite song?
Even the simplest songs include and introduce children to new words. In “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” your child is exposed to words like ‘wonder’ ‘above’ ‘world’ ‘diamonds’ and more. Whilst these words wouldn’t be regularly spoken, the repetition of song brings them to children’s attention. Hearing and repeating songs build’s your child’s ear, helping them to understand words, phrases and sentences, adding new words into their vocabulary without even trying. The lyrics of children’s songs often contain rich and varied vocabulary.
Enhanced Listening Skills
Listening is a critical component of language development. Heightened listening skills through singing greatly improves children’s comprehension abilities. As children sing along to a song, they focus on the words and melody, training their ears to discern and differentiate sounds.
Cultivating a Love for Language
A fun and joyful activity such as singing has the potential to instill a love for language at a young age. When children associate learning such as language with fun and positive emotions, they are more likely to regularly engage with it leading to a lifelong appreciation of words.
Rhythmic Repetition
Singing involves repetitive patterns, helping children to understand and recognise the rhythm of language. Children often imitate the rhythm and musical structure of their mother tongue before they can say the words. As most of us adults are able to remember songs and nursery rhymes we learnt as children, you can see how easily these are able to be memorised and retained through repetition. The rhythm of singing therefore provides a solid foundation for language acquisition, making it easier for children to grasp patterns of speech and the flow of sentences.
Pronunciation
As children sing, they learn to articulate words as they mimic the sound they hear. Clear and precise pronunciation is crucial for effective communication, thus singing improves overall speech dictation and clarity.
Emotional Expression
Singing is often more than just a fun activity for children. It helps in developing important emotional skills, providing an outlet for emotions and helping them to connect feelings with words. The emotional connection from this can deepen their understanding of language and strengthen their ability to convey thoughts and feelings. The activity of singing also helps children feel more confident and secure in their bonds with other children and adults.
Memory
As children learn words attached to a tune, this then becomes embedded. Hence why singing the alphabet words wonders. The repeated use of the memory muscle is one of the largest benefits of singing. For children to remember rhyming, lyrics and timing their brain is learning to handle numerous tasks and get better at them. Learning songs can therefore improve reading skills and mental agility.
Social Development & Cultural Appreciation
Singing and playing music often requires cooperation and teamwork amongst children. When dancing or singing they naturally begin to work together to achieve a shared goal. Those who are engaged or take part in musical activities often develop stronger social skills than those who do not participate in such activities.
Young Academics Tips for Singing with Your Child for Language Development
- Use lots of actions with your songs, since this encourages your child to imitate. Remember imitation of actions often comes first, with the words coming later
- Make up some songs for house routines. Not only are you teaching language, but also building helpful home routines
- Make up words to familiar tunes so your songs have more meaning to your child. You can even use their name in the song to personalise it
- Remember to pause. For your child, this will help them learn to anticipate, fill in missing words or actions. For example, ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep…”
Singing is both a great and effective tool for supporting language development in children. By incorporating songs into your child’s everyday routine, it is not only a fun activity but also lays a strong foundation for language development.
If you are worried about your child’s language development, check in with your child nurse, GP or speech pathologist. Remember, children develop language at different rates. It’s not about who gets there first, but rather whether they are meeting milestones around the expected time.
So, let the music play and watch your child’s language skills flourish.