ADVANCING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN SINGING

Comparison of singing acquisition in French-speaking and
English-speaking children using the VAMDA

Stéphanie Boisvert, Laval University,
Christine Tsang, Ph.D., Huron University College at Western,
Jonathan Bolduc, Ph.D., Laval University,
Maria Teresa Moreno Sala, Ph.D., Laval University,
Laurel Trainor, Ph.D., McMaster University

 METHODS
French-speaking children

English-speaking children

67 children (33 girls/34 boys)
5.7 years old

46 children (34 girls/12 boys)
8.4 years old

3 Cognitive tasks

2 Cognitive tasks

Digit span
Digit span (WISC)
Logical sequences
Vocabulary (PPVT)
Hand signs
K-ABCII

VAMDA

 Vocal Auditory Motor Development Assessment
(VAMDA)
Pitch Interval Discrimination

 Vocal Auditory Motor Development Assessment
(VAMDA)
Melody Discrimination

 RESULTS
French-speaking children

Hand signs
(rho = .309, p <.05)

Logical
sequences

Digit span
forward

(rho = .28, p <.05)
(rho = .387, p <.001)

Pitch Interval Discrimination

Melody Discrimination

(r = .74, p <.001)

(r = .51, p <.05)

(r = .318, p <.05)

Vocabulary

(r = .38, p <.10)

English-speaking children

Digit span
backward

 DISCUSSION
•

The results suggest that memory is related to pitch interval perception in singing, although
the specific aspects of memory need to be clarified.

•

Future studies should examine:

1) effect of age on singing development
2) the specific aspect of memory involved in singing development
3) specifically examine linguistic elements in singing development
4) complete production analyses and examine relationship to perception and cognition