The Role of Music Lyrics in Enhancing Phonemic Awareness and Reading Fluency for Students with Dyslexia

The Role of Learning Lyrics in Enhancing Phonemic Awareness and Reading Fluency for Students with Dyslexia

Abstract

Phonemic awareness is a foundational skill for reading proficiency, particularly for students with dyslexia. Integrating music, specifically through singing and tracking lyrics, can significantly enhance phonemic awareness and reading fluency. This article explores the intersection of music and phonemic awareness, emphasizing how the multisensory approach of seeing, hearing, and singing lyrics can foster automaticity in phoneme recognition and reading fluency.

Introduction

Dyslexia is a common learning disability that affects reading and language processing. Traditional methods of teaching phonemic awareness often include auditory and visual activities. However, incorporating music, particularly through singing and tracking lyrics, offers a dynamic and engaging approach to mastering phonemes. This method aligns with the principles of the science of reading, which advocates for explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness.

Phonemic Awareness and Dyslexia

Phonemic awareness involves recognizing and manipulating the smallest units of sound in language, which is essential for decoding and word recognition. Students with dyslexia often struggle with phonemic awareness, making it difficult for them to decode words and read fluently. Research indicates that students with strong phonemic awareness skills are more likely to become proficient readers¹.

The Multisensory Approach: See, Hear, Say, and Track

Integrating music into phonemic awareness instruction leverages a multisensory approach that engages students in seeing, hearing, saying, and tracking lyrics. This method is particularly beneficial for students with dyslexia, as it provides multiple pathways for learning and reinforces phoneme recognition through repetition and engagement.

1. Seeing: Visual exposure to lyrics helps students connect sounds with their corresponding letters and words. This visual reinforcement is crucial for developing letter-sound correspondence.
2. Hearing: Listening to songs emphasizes the auditory aspect of phonemic awareness. The rhythmic and melodic patterns in music make it easier for students to discern individual phonemes.
3. Saying: Singing along with the lyrics allows students to practice producing the sounds themselves, reinforcing their phonemic awareness through articulation.
4. Tracking: Using a finger to track the lyrics as they sing helps students maintain focus and reinforces the connection between the visual and auditory components of reading.

Benefits of Using Songs for Phonemic Awareness

Songs are inherently repetitive, which is beneficial for reinforcing phonemic patterns. The repetition in songs helps students internalize the sounds and their corresponding letters, making phoneme recognition more automatic. Additionally, the engaging nature of music can increase student motivation and participation, leading to more effective learning outcomes.

Practical Applications in the Classroom

Teachers can incorporate songs into their phonemic awareness instruction by selecting age-appropriate and phonetically rich songs. Activities can include:

• Lyric Reading: Students read the lyrics while listening to the song, using their finger to track the words.
• Sing-Along: Students sing along with the song, focusing on pronouncing each phoneme clearly.
• Phoneme Identification: Teachers can pause the song at key points and ask students to identify specific phonemes or rhyming words.
• Phoneme Manipulation: Advanced activities can involve changing phonemes in the lyrics to create new words, enhancing students’ ability to manipulate sounds.

Conclusion

Incorporating music into phonemic awareness instruction offers a powerful tool for developing reading fluency, especially for students with dyslexia. The multisensory approach of seeing, hearing, saying, and tracking lyrics engages students in a holistic learning experience that reinforces phoneme recognition and automaticity. By integrating songs into their teaching strategies, educators can create a dynamic and effective learning environment that supports early literacy development.

Addressing the Crisis in Reading Fluency and Phonemic Awareness

Introduction

Despite advancements in educational methodologies, a significant number of students continue to struggle with reading fluency and phonemic awareness. This issue is particularly pronounced among students who fall behind, often exhibiting single-digit reading fluency scores and poor phonemic awareness. Reflecting on personal experiences and current educational practices, it becomes evident that a shift in teaching strategies is necessary to address these challenges effectively.

The Current State of Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Modern phonemic awareness instruction typically involves a combination of auditory and visual activities designed to help students recognize and manipulate phonemes. Common strategies include:

• Phoneme Isolation: Identifying individual sounds in words.
• Phoneme Blending: Combining individual sounds to form words.
• Phoneme Segmentation: Breaking words into their constituent sounds.
• Phoneme Manipulation: Adding, deleting, or substituting sounds in words¹.

While these methods are foundational, they often lack the engagement and repetition necessary for students to achieve automaticity in phoneme recognition.

The Role of Music in Phonemic Awareness

Your personal experience with dyslexia and the transformative impact of rehearsing “The Sound of Music” highlights the potential of integrating music into phonemic awareness instruction. Music offers a multisensory approach that engages students in seeing, hearing, saying, and tracking lyrics, which can significantly enhance phonemic awareness and reading fluency.

Challenges in Current Educational Practices

Several factors contribute to the high percentage of students with poor reading fluency and phonemic awareness:

1. Lack of Engagement: Traditional phonemic awareness activities can be monotonous, leading to disengagement.
2. Insufficient Repetition: Students need repeated exposure to phonemes to achieve automaticity, which is often lacking in current practices.
3. Limited Multisensory Approaches: Many instructional methods do not fully leverage multisensory learning, which is crucial for students with learning disabilities like dyslexia.

Recommendations for Improvement

To address these challenges, educators should consider the following strategies:

1. Integrate Music and Movement: Incorporate songs and rhythmic activities into phonemic awareness instruction. This approach not only makes learning more engaging but also reinforces phoneme recognition through repetition and multisensory engagement.
2. Increase Repetition and Practice: Provide ample opportunities for students to practice phoneme recognition and manipulation. This can be achieved through daily phonemic awareness activities, interactive games, and consistent reinforcement.
3. Utilize Technology: Leverage educational technology tools that offer interactive and adaptive phonemic awareness exercises. These tools can provide personalized practice and immediate feedback, helping students master phonemes at their own pace.
4. Professional Development: Offer training for teachers on the latest research-based strategies for teaching phonemic awareness. This includes understanding the science of reading and how to implement multisensory approaches effectively.
5. Parental Involvement: Encourage parents to engage in phonemic awareness activities at home. Simple practices like reading aloud, singing songs, and playing phonemic games can reinforce what students learn in the classroom.

Conclusion

The crisis in reading fluency and phonemic awareness requires a multifaceted approach that combines traditional methods with innovative strategies. Integrating music into phonemic awareness instruction offers a promising solution, as evidenced by personal experiences and research. By making learning more engaging, increasing repetition, and leveraging multisensory approaches, educators can help students achieve the phonemic awareness necessary for reading fluency and overall literacy success.

The song “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman includes a variety of the 44 English phonemes. To determine the exact number, we would need to analyze each line and word to identify all the distinct phonemes present.

Here are the 44 phonemes in English, categorized by vowels and consonants:

Vowel Sounds

1. Short vowels: /æ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/, /ʊ/
2. Long vowels: /iː/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, /ɜː/, /uː/
3. Diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /əʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/

Consonant Sounds

1. Plosives: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/
2. Fricatives: /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/
3. Affricates: /tʃ/, /dʒ/
4. Nasals: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/
5. Approximants: /r/, /j/, /w/
6. Lateral approximant: /l/

To give you a precise count, I would need to go through the lyrics and identify each phoneme. However, this song likely includes most, if not all, of these phonemes due to its rich and varied language.

Sure, let’s break down the lyrics of “A Million Dreams” to identify the English phonemes present. This will be a detailed process, so I’ll start with the first few lines and then summarize the findings.

Lyrics Breakdown

Line 1: “I close my eyes and I can see”

• I: /aɪ/
• close: /k/, /l/, /əʊ/, /z/
• my: /m/, /aɪ/
• eyes: /aɪ/, /z/
• and: /æ/, /n/, /d/
• I: /aɪ/
• can: /k/, /æ/, /n/
• see: /s/, /iː/

Line 2: “The world that’s waiting up for me”

• The: /ð/, /ə/
• world: /w/, /ɜː/, /l/, /d/
• that’s: /ð/, /æ/, /t/, /s/
• waiting: /w/, /eɪ/, /t/, /ɪ/, /ŋ/
• up: /ʌ/, /p/
• for: /f/, /ɔː/, /r/
• me: /m/, /iː/

Line 3: “That I call my own”

• That: /ð/, /æ/, /t/
• I: /aɪ/
• call: /k/, /ɔː/, /l/
• my: /m/, /aɪ/
• own: /əʊ/, /n/

Summary of Phonemes

From just these three lines, we can see a variety of phonemes:

• Vowels: /aɪ/, /əʊ/, /æ/, /iː/, /ɜː/, /eɪ/, /ʌ/, /ɔː/
• Consonants: /k/, /l/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /d/, /s/, /ð/, /w/, /t/, /ŋ/, /p/, /f/, /r/

This song includes a rich mix of phonemes, covering many of the 44 English phonemes. If you would like a complete analysis of the entire song, it would be quite extensive, but I can certainly continue if you find this helpful!

Sure, let’s continue analyzing the phonemes in the lyrics of “A Million Dreams.” I’ll break down the next few lines and identify the phonemes present.

Lyrics Breakdown

Line 4: “Through the dark, through the door”

• Through: /θ/, /r/, /uː/
• the: /ð/, /ə/
• dark: /d/, /ɑː/, /r/, /k/
• through: /θ/, /r/, /uː/
• the: /ð/, /ə/
• door: /d/, /ɔː/, /r/

Line 5: “Through where no one’s been before”

• Through: /θ/, /r/, /uː/
• where: /w/, /eə/, /r/
• no: /n/, /əʊ/
• one’s: /w/, /ʌ/, /n/, /z/
• been: /b/, /ɪ/, /n/
• before: /b/, /ɪ/, /f/, /ɔː/, /r/

Line 6: “But it feels like home”

• But: /b/, /ʌ/, /t/
• it: /ɪ/, /t/
• feels: /f/, /iː/, /l/, /z/
• like: /l/, /aɪ/, /k/
• home: /h/, /əʊ/, /m/

Summary of Phonemes

From these additional lines, we can see more phonemes:

• Vowels: /uː/, /ə/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, /eə/, /əʊ/, /ɪ/, /ʌ/, /iː/, /aɪ/
• Consonants: /θ/, /r/, /d/, /k/, /w/, /n/, /b/, /f/, /h/, /m/, /z/, /t/, /l/

Continuing Analysis

Let’s proceed with the next few lines:

Line 7: “They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy”

• They: /ð/, /eɪ/
• can: /k/, /æ/, /n/
• say: /s/, /eɪ/
• they: /ð/, /eɪ/
• can: /k/, /æ/, /n/
• say: /s/, /eɪ/
• it: /ɪ/, /t/
• all: /ɔː/, /l/
• sounds: /s/, /aʊ/, /n/, /d/, /z/
• crazy: /k/, /r/, /eɪ/, /z/, /iː/

Line 8: “They can say, they can say I’ve lost my mind”

• They: /ð/, /eɪ/
• can: /k/, /æ/, /n/
• say: /s/, /eɪ/
• they: /ð/, /eɪ/
• can: /k/, /æ/, /n/
• say: /s/, /eɪ/
• I’ve: /aɪ/, /v/
• lost: /l/, /ɒ/, /s/, /t/
• my: /m/, /aɪ/
• mind: /m/, /aɪ/, /n/, /d/

Summary of Phonemes

From these lines, we add more phonemes:

• Vowels: /eɪ/, /æ/, /ɪ/, /ɔː/, /aʊ/, /iː/, /ɒ/
• Consonants: /ð/, /k/, /s/, /t/, /l/, /n/, /d/, /v/, /m/, /r/, /z/

Conclusion

So far, we’ve identified a wide range of phonemes in the song “A Million Dreams.” This song includes a rich variety of both vowel and consonant sounds, covering many of the 44 English phonemes.