Learning to speak comes naturally to children, even if some find it hard to communicate through language, despite there being no apparent reason to expect this kind of difficulty. But according to a new study, music could help children with speech and language processing difficulties to find their voice.

Researchers at Western Sydney University in Australia and the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre in France have investigated the benefits of music for language learning in very young children. The team conducted an experiment with 15 French-speaking children with developmental language disorder and 18 with no such difficulties, all aged between five and 13.

The experts had them listen to regular or irregular rhythms for 30 seconds, followed by several series of six phrases. The children were then asked to repeat them back as accurately as possible while the team recorded them.

These recordings showed that regular musical rhythms improved children’s ability to repeat phrases accurately, regardless of whether or not they had difficulty expressing themselves orally.

“With all of the children – including those with language problems – the sentences were better able to be repeated out loud after they had heard the regular musical rhythms compared to the irregular musical rhythms,” said Dr Anna Fiveash, a cognitive psychologist at Western Sydney University and co-lead author of the study, published in the journal “Science of Learning”.

The researchers claim this discovery represents a breakthrough in understanding the acquisition of conversational skills in children.

Indeed, it is estimated that 3-7% of the world’s population suffers from a language disorder. It is vital to detect these difficulties as early as possible, as lack of verbal communication at an age when other children speak with ease can affect the cognitive, affective and social development of the affected child.

But not all abnormalities in a child’s language development are necessarily serious; most correct themselves naturally as soon as the child enters kindergarten.

The more persistent issues, however, may require referral to a specialist to prevent them from evolving over time and affecting the acquisition of written language.

“Children with developmental language disorder can struggle to understand their peers, teachers, and parents, making it difficult to efficiently express thoughts, which can lead to lifelong consequences in their academic and social lives,” said study co-author Dr Enikő Ladányi.

“Effective speech-language therapy is, therefore, essential to improve developmental outcomes for children. Our findings could help supplement and improve current speech-therapy guidelines and practices.”