EdUHK researchers partner with HKU and SickKids

A joint study by The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto has, for the first time, provided empirical evidence that children with instrumental music training perform significantly better in Chinese word reading (i.e., the ability to read aloud written words) than their untrained peers. Advanced statistical analysis suggests that instrumental music training may enhance reading ability by improving segmental phonological awareness. This offers a breakthrough support for the music-to-literacy transfer theory within a Chinese language context. 

Early literacy skills are crucial predictors of long-term academic achievement. Previous studies on music training have focused almost exclusively on alphabetic languages like English and German, leaving a critical research gap regarding how music training influences reading acquisition in non-alphabetic, logographic scripts like Chinese. Published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, this cross-sectional study is the first step in addressing that gap and suggests the feasibility of a large-scale study on music training. 

In 2023, the research team recruited 86 Cantonese-speaking kindergarten children in Hong Kong, with an average age of 4.95 years, matched strictly for age, cognitive ability, and family socioeconomic status. Of these, 42 children received over 24 months of formal instrumental music training (primarily piano and violin), while one child received 9 months of training. The control group of 43 children had no music training beyond regular kindergarten classes.   

Each child was tested individually by a research assistant in a quiet room, assessing their skills in word reading, segmental phonological awareness, and tone awareness.  The results showed that children with instrumental music training demonstrated significantly better Chinese word reading than their untrained peers. The musically trained group scored an average of 65%, 68%, and 40% in word reading, segmental phonological awareness, and tone awareness respectively, compared to 38%, 45%, and 34% for their untrained peers. 

Mediation analysis¹ further revealed that segmental phonological awareness—the ability to analyse and manipulate segmental phonological units at different levels—was the key mediator between music perception and word reading. In contrast, tone awareness did not play a mediating effect², supporting the universality of the Precise Auditory Timing Hypothesis (PATH) in which music perception supports word reading through phonological awareness.

The study was led by Professor William Choi of HKU’s Speech and Music Perception Laboratory, with core team members Professor Eric Kong Siu-hang, Assistant Professor in EdUHK’s Department of Cultural and Creative Arts; Professor Alfredo Bautista of EdUHK’s Department of Early Childhood Education; and Dr Veronica Ka Wai-lai from SickKids. Using parallel multiple mediator analysis³, the team controlled for family income, age, and general cognitive ability to eliminate confounding variables. The focus on children aged four to five, when formal Chinese reading instruction begins in Hong Kong kindergartens, making the findings highly relevant for early intervention design. 

Policy and Educational Implications:

1. Curriculum Integration: Structured music education encompassing rhythm and pitch can serve as a valuable complement to core preschool literacy curricula.

2. Preserving Early Music Education: The study provides empirical support for maintaining and expanding music education for young children, countering language instruction policy pressures that prioritise direct academic drill-and-practice.   

At the theoretical level, the findings extend the PATH by demonstrating that both rhythm and pitch perception independently enhance phonological awareness—contrary to earlier theories suggesting only rhythm plays a role—thereby refining explanatory models in music cognition. 

Dr Kong stated, "Music training has the potential to strengthen preschool children's Chinese reading skills. This cross-linguistic investigation addresses a long-standing academic debate, suggesting that the literacy benefits of music training are not limited by cultural or writing system differences." 

Professor Bautista added, "The correlational evidence associating instrumental music training with Chinese reading ability not only advances the theoretical framework of music-to-literacy transfer, but also provides robust justification for embedding music education into the preschool core curriculum."    

The research team has initiated a large-scale randomised controlled trial to investigate the direct causal effect of music training on reading performance. Future studies will explore additional explanatory mechanisms. 

¹Mediation analysis: A statistical method used to examine whether the effect of one variable on an outcome is transmitted through an intervening variable.
²Mediating effect: The effect transmitted through an intervening variable that links a predictor to an outcome, as illustrated by the pathway “music perception → segmental phonological awareness → Chinese reading”.
³Parallel multiple mediator analysis: A statistical approach used to examine multiple mediating pathways simultaneously. For example, A influences both B and C, each of which, in turn, influences D.