Språk på musikkmåten. En studie om bruk av musikkaktiviteter i ei språk- og musikkgruppe for å stimulere førskolebarn til aktiv bruk av språk

Abstract

The study is based on connections between music and language, and explores how participation in musical activities can help stimulate pre-school aged children’s active language. The thesis says: “In what way can participation in musical activities in a language and music group stimulate to an actively used language for pre-school aged children?” The study has been implemented as a qualitative, instrumental case study in a language and music group consisting of four pre-school children aged 4–5 years. The group was led by a music therapist and a speech therapist, where my role was that of music therapist and participatory researcher. The implementation of the study derived its inspiration from participatory action research, where the speech therapist and I planned, implemented and evaluated the groups in an interdisciplinary cooperation. The data has been collected through participatory observation and video observation. The results after the analytical process can be summarized through the category violation of expectations, as possible explanations of how the children use the language more actively through participation in the musical activities. The results are exemplified as three narratives from the data material, and are discussed up against theories from musical therapy, pedagogy and development psychology. All three examples show that the structures of the music activities, together with an improvisational approach, form a foundation where the children spontaneously increase their language activity