Can music therapy support language development of primary school children

Background: Language competencies of primary school students in Germany are often insufficient despite various pre-school language support programs. Students with delayed language development receive a 1 year music therapy language promotion concentrating on emotional and communicative aspects.Methods: Language competencies are tested with a standardized test, students’ social-emotional development is assessed by teachers with a questionnaire. Both instruments are applied in a quasi-experimental two-group pre-post design. The sample consists of 35 students receiving music therapy and 43 students as comparison group.Results: No significant group differences regarding language competency were found. However, concerning social-emotional aspects the music therapy group improved significantly more on the “self-assertion”-scale than the comparison group. To gain better insight into this effect, two contrasting cases were selected and analyzed (mixed-methods-design).Discussion: The area of “self-assertion” appea

Assertion · Developmental psychology · English language · Language development · Mathematics education · Medical education · Music therapy · Promotion (chess · Psychotherapist · Scale (ratio · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Medicine · Psychology