Effects of a musical interventions program on the language of toddlers

Abstract

n child development, language has a key role as it impacts cognitive processes, socialization and other factors that make up the development of children up to five years of age. The literature presents studies that demonstrate that exposure to music, whether through music education or music therapy, can support the development of different abilities related to the use of language.The purpose of this study was to verify whether a musical intervention program alters the language skills of toddlers. The study included 13 26-month-old (average) children attending a daycare center in a city in the center of São Paulo. A continuous evaluation design was used. The children were evaluated by the Denver II and Operationalized Portage Inventory (OPI) (language and cognition areas). They were exposed to 12 sessions of musical intervention lasting 30 minutes each, being reassessed by the OPI after the intervention. There was an increase in children´s performance in the cognition area by 38% and in the language area by 22%. The musical intervention program carried out contributed to stimulate the language development of the participants, making it possible to state that children from 24 months can benefit from regular participation in directive music activities with regard to language performance.