Music and Language

Interdisciplinary Approach

The study integrates four main dimensions:

• (Socio-)linguistic aspects
• Musicological aspects
• Cultural aspects
• Neurophysiological aspects

By combining these areas, a comprehensive understanding of language perception in general and melodic language perception in particular can be achieved. This holistic approach allows for the examination of complex interactions between various factors that influence our perception and processing of language.

Research Focus

• Melodic Perception: The investigation focuses on how languages and dialects are perceived with respect to their melodic characteristics.
• Influencing Factors: It examines the influence of linguistic, musical, cultural, and neurophysiological factors on this perception.
• Language Recognition: A key aspect is whether perception is influenced by the recognition of the language.
• Language Preferences: The study explores how preferences for specific languages emerge, primarily based on acoustic features. 

Methodology and Objectives

• Identification of languages that participants are unable to assign or recognize.
• Analysis of languages perceived as particularly melodic.
• Investigation of factors influencing the perception of foreign languages and dialects.

Innovative Aspects

The study introduces a new dimension to neurophysiological research by utilizing language material perceived as more or less melodic. This approach expands the previous focus, which primarily centered on comparisons between musicians and non-musicians.

Cultural Perspective

To investigate the influence of sociolinguistic variables, various language communities are considered: Austria, Germany, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Taiwan, Greece, and Malta. These countries provide ideal conditions for cross-cultural comparisons due to their diverse linguistic and geographical landscapes.

Significance of the Research

This study builds on previous findings that have demonstrated a connection between language perception and performance (Christiner et al., 2021). By examining the melodic perception of 33 different languages in detail, the study aims to provide new insights into the complex processes of language processing and preference. The results of this research could have significant implications for several fields: 

• Language acquisition and teaching: Development of improved methods based on the melodic aspects of languages.
• Intercultural communication: Deeper understanding of language preferences and their effects on communication.
• Psycholinguistics: Insights into how preferences and aversions to specific languages develop.
• Speech therapy: Development of new approaches that utilize the melodic aspects of language.
• Communication: Optimization of general communication strategies in multilingual contexts.

References

Schneider, P., Engelmann, D., Groß, C., Bernhofs, V., Hofmann, E., Christiner, M., ... & Seither-Preisler, A. (2023). Neuroanatomical disposition, natural development, and training-induced plasticity of the human auditory system from childhood to adulthood: a 12-year study in musicians and nonmusicians. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(37), 6430-6446. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0274-23.2023

Christiner, M., Bernhofs, V., Sommer-Lolei, S., & Groß, C. (2023). What Makes a Foreign Language Intelligible? An Examination of the Impact of Musical Ability and Individual Differences on Language Perception and How Intelligible Foreign Languages Appear. Journal of Intelligence, 11(3), 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11030043

Coumel, M., Groß, C., Sommer-Lolei, S., & Christiner, M. (2023). The contribution of music abilities and phonetic aptitude to L2 accent faking ability. Languages, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010068 

Groß, C., Bernhofs, V., Möhler, E., & Christiner, M. (2023). Misjudgement of One’s Own Performance? Exploring Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADHD) and Individual Difference in Complex Music and Foreign Language Perception. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(19), 6841. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196841

Benner, J., Reinhardt, J., Christiner, M., Wengenroth, M., Stippich, C., Schneider, P., & Blatow, M. (2023). Temporal hierarchy of cortical responses reflects core-belt-parabelt organization of auditory cortex in musicians. Cerebral Cortex, 33(11), 7044-7060. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad020 

Bücher, S., Bernhofs, V., Thieme, A., Christiner, M., & Schneider, P. (2023). Chronology of auditory processing and related co-activation in the orbitofrontal cortex depends on musical expertise. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 1041397. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1041397

Christiner, M., Bernhofs, V., & Groß, C. (2022). Individual differences in singing behavior during childhood predicts language performance during adulthood. Languages, 7(2), 72. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020072

Rus-Oswald, O. G., Benner, J., Reinhardt, J., Bürki, C., Christiner, M., Hofmann, E., ... & Blatow, M. (2022). Musicianship-related structural and functional cortical features are preserved in elderly musicians. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 14, 807971. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2022.807971

Schneider, P., Groß, C., Bernhofs, V., Christiner, M., Benner, J., Turker, S., ... & Seither‐Preisler, A. (2022). Short‐term plasticity of neuro‐auditory processing induced by musical active listening training. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1517(1), 176-190. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14899

Christiner, M., Serrallach, B. L., Benner, J., Bernhofs, V., Schneider, P., Renner, J., ... & Groß, C. (2022). Examining individual differences in singing, musical and tone language ability in adolescents and young adults with dyslexia. Brain Sciences, 12(6), 744. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12060744

Christiner, M., Renner, J., Groß, C., Seither-Preisler, A., Benner, J., & Schneider, P. (2022). Singing Mandarin? What short-term memory capacity, basic auditory skills, and musical and singing abilities reveal about learning Mandarin. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 895063. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.895063

Serrallach, B. L., Groß, C., Christiner, M., Wildermuth, S.,… Seither-Preisler & Schneider, P. (2022). Neuromorphological and Neurofunctional Correlates of ADHD and ADD in the Auditory Cortex of Adults. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 850529. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.850529

Groß, C., Serrallach, B. L., Möhler, E., Pousson, J. E., Schneider, P., Christiner, M., & Bernhofs, V. (2022). Musical performance in adolescents with ADHD, ADD and dyslexia—Behavioral and neurophysiological aspects. Brain Sciences, 12(2), 127. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12020127

Christiner, M., Gross, C., Seither-Preisler, A., & Schneider, P. (2021). The melody of speech: what the melodic perception of speech reveals about language performance and musical abilities. Languages, 6(3), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6030132

Zoellner, S., Benner, J., Zeidler, B., Seither‐Preisler, A., Christiner, M., Seitz, A., ... & Schneider, P. (2019). Reduced cortical thickness in Heschl's gyrus as an in vivo marker for human primary auditory cortex. Human brain mapping, 40(4), 1139-1154. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24434

Coumel, M., Christiner, M., & Reiterer, S. M. (2019). Second language accent faking ability depends on musical abilities, not on working memory. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00257

Christiner, M., & Reiterer, S. M. (2018). Early influence of musical abilities and working memory on speech imitation abilities: Study with pre-school children. Brain sciences, 8(9), 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8090169

Christiner, M., Rüdegger, S., & Reiterer, S. M. (2018). Sing Chinese and tap Tagalog? Predicting individual differences in musical and phonetic aptitude using language families differing by sound-typology. International Journal of Multilingualism, 15(4), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1424171

Christiner, M. (2018). Let the music speak: Examining the relationship between music and language aptitude in pre-school children. Exploring Language Aptitude: Views from Psychology, the Language Sciences, and Cognitive Neuroscience, 149-166. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91917-1_8

Christiner, M., & Reiterer, S. (2016). Music, song and speech. Cognitive individual differences in second language processing and acquisition, 3, 131. https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.3.07chr

Christiner, M., & Reiterer, S. M. (2015). A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: Singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 482. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00482

Christiner, M., & Reiterer, S. M. (2013). Song and speech: examining the link between singing talent and speech imitation ability. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 874. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00874