The use of labels to describe pitch changes by bilingual children

Abstract

This study assessed the ability of first-grade bilingual children, who speak both Spanish and English, to label two-octave pitch shifts in a musical context. Prior to testing, children were asked to describe extreme changes in pitch and loudness using their preexisting vocabulary. In both languages, children were significantly more accurate in their application of terminology to describe changes in loudness than changes in pitch. Following the pre-test, children received training in the use of the English and Spanish pitch terms high/low and agudo/grave. Finally, children were asked to verbalize pitch changes heard in a familiar song that contained randomly placed 2-octave register shifts-using any of the previously learned pitch labels (English and/or Spanish). Children who responded in English were significantly faster to respond than those who chose Spanish. However, verbalizations were applied more accurately in Spanish than English.

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