Melodies Rhythm And Cognition In Foreign Language Learning

Melodies, Rhythm and Cognition in Foreign Language Learning is a collection of essays reflecting on the relationship between language and music, two unique, innate human capacities. This book provides a clear explanation of the centrality of melodies and rhythm to foreign language learning acquisition. The interplay between language music brings to applied linguists inquiries into the nature and function of speech melodies, the role of prosody and the descriptions of rhythmical patterns in verbal behaviour. Musical students seem to be better equipped for language learning, although melodies and rhythm can benefit all types of students at any age. In fact, in this book melodies and rhythm are considered to be a springboard for the enhancement of the learning of foreign languages.

Melodies, Rhythm and Cognition in Foreign Language Learning is a collection of essays reflecting on the relationship between language and music, two unique, innate human capacities. This book provides a clear explanation of the centrality of melodies and rhythm to foreign language learning acquisition. The interplay between language music brings to applied linguists inquiries into the nature and function of speech melodies, the role of prosody and the descriptions of rhythmical patterns in verbal behaviour. Musical students seem to be better equipped for language learning, although melodies and rhythm can benefit all types of students at any age. In fact, in this book melodies and rhythm are considered to be a springboard for the enhancement of the learning of foreign languages.

The Handbook consists of four major sections. Each section is introduced by a main article: Theories of Emotion – General Aspects Perspectives in Communication Theory, Semiotics, and Linguistics Perspectives on Language and Emotion in Cultural Studies Interdisciplinary and Applied Perspectives The first section presents interdisciplinary emotion theories relevant for the field of language and communication research, including the history of emotion research. The second section focuses on the full range of emotion-related aspects in linguistics, semiotics, and communication theories. The next section focuses on cultural studies and language and emotion; emotions in arts and literature, as well as research on emotion in literary studies; and media and emotion. The final section covers different domains, social practices, and applications, such as society, policy, diplomacy, economics and business communication, religion and emotional language, the domain of affective computing in human-machine interaction, and language and emotion research for language education. Overall, this Handbook represents a comprehensive overview in a rich, diverse compendium never before published in this particular domain.

This state-of-the-art volume is the first to capture a hybrid discipline that studies the role and linguistic implications of the human mind in language learning and teaching. This Handbook considers individual as well as collective factors in language learners and teachers from an array of new empirical constructs and theoretical perspectives, including implications for practice and “myths, debates, and disagreements” in the field, and points to future directions for research. This collection of stellar contributions is an essential resource for researchers, advanced students, and teachers working in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, psychology, and education.

The past 15 years have witnessed an increasing interest in the comparative study of language and music as cognitive systems. This book presents an interdisciplinary study of language and music, exploring the following core areas - structural comparisons, evolution, learning and processing, and neuroscience.

Human speech and music share a number of similarities and differences. One of the closest similarities is their temporal nature as both (i) develop over time, (ii) form sequences of temporal intervals, possibly differing in duration and acoustical marking by different spectral properties, which are perceived as a rhythm, and (iii) generate metrical expectations. Human brains are particularly efficient in perceiving, producing, and processing fine rhythmic information in music and speech. However a number of critical questions remain to be answered: Where does this human sensitivity for rhythm arise? How did rhythm cognition develop in human evolution? How did environmental rhythms affect the evolution of brain rhythms? Which rhythm-specific neural circuits are shared between speech and music, or even with other domains? Evolutionary processes’ long time scales often prevent direct observation: understanding the psychology of rhythm and its evolution requires a close-fitting integration of different perspectives. First, empirical observations of music and speech in the field are contrasted and generate testable hypotheses. Experiments exploring linguistic and musical rhythm are performed across sensory modalities, ages, and animal species to address questions about domain-specificity, development, and an evolutionary path of rhythm. Finally, experimental insights are integrated via synthetic modeling, generating testable predictions about brain oscillations underlying rhythm cognition and its evolution. Our understanding of the cognitive, neurobiological, and evolutionary bases of rhythm is rapidly increasing. However, researchers in different fields often work on parallel, potentially converging strands with little mutual awareness. This research topic builds a bridge across several disciplines, focusing on the cognitive neuroscience of rhythm as an evolutionary process. It includes contributions encompassing, although not limited to: (1) developmental and comparative studies of rhythm (e.g. critical acquisition periods, innateness); (2) evidence of rhythmic behavior in other species, both spontaneous and in controlled experiments; (3) comparisons of rhythm processing in music and speech (e.g. behavioral experiments, systems neuroscience perspectives on music-speech networks); (4) evidence on rhythm processing across modalities and domains; (5) studies on rhythm in interaction and context (social, affective, etc.); (6) mathematical and computational (e.g. connectionist, symbolic) models of “rhythmicity” as an evolved behavior.

Neuroendocrine Regulation of Animal Vocalization: Mechanisms and Anthropogenic Factors in Animal Communication examines the underpinning neuroendocrine (NE) mechanisms that drive animal communication across taxa. Written by international subject experts, the book focuses on the importance of animal communication in survival and reproduction at an individual and species level, and the impact that increased production and accumulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can have on these regulatory processes. This book discusses sound production, perception, processing, and response across a range of animals. This includes insects, fish, bats, birds, nonhuman primates, infant humans, and many others. Some chapters analyze how neuroactive substances, endocrine control, and chemical pollution affect the physiology of the animal’s perceptive and sound-producing organs, as well as their auditory and vocal receptors and pathways. Other chapters address the recent approaches governments have taken to protect against the endocrine disruption of animal (vocal) behaviors. The book is a valuable resource for researchers and advanced students seeking first-rate material on neuroendocrinological effects on animal behavior and communication. Serves as the most comprehensive cross-taxa study of its kind, revolutionary in its focus on the impacts of EDCs on the processes guiding animal communication Emphasizes the importance of production, perception and processing of acoustic vocalization for survival Analyzes recent governmental policies and protections against the effects of EDCs on humans and wildlife

In the first comprehensive study of the relationship between music and language from the standpoint of cognitive neuroscience, Aniruddh D. Patel challenges the widespread belief that music and language are processed independently. Since Plato's time, the relationship between music and language has attracted interest and debate from a wide range of thinkers. Recently, scientific research on this topic has been growing rapidly, as scholars from diverse disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive science, music cognition, and neuroscience are drawn to the music-language interface as one way to explore the extent to which different mental abilities are processed by separate brain mechanisms. Accordingly, the relevant data and theories have been spread across a range of disciplines. This volume provides the first synthesis, arguing that music and language share deep and critical connections, and that comparative research provides a powerful way to study the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying these uniquely human abilities.Winner of the 2008 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award