May 30, 2006 :: No. 265

What, if any, is the relationship between early music training and developing preliteracy skills? Cal State Fullerton graduate Patricia O’Herron (M.A. music ’06) addresses the subject in her award-winning master’s thesis, “Issues in Music Modeling Within Kindergarten Language Arts Curricula.”

Her research has been selected for CSUF’s 2006 Giles T. Brown Outstanding Thesis Award, named in honor of the university’s founding dean of graduate studies.

“Ms. O’Herron’s extensive review of literature allowed her to make connections between teaching music and early literacy, particularly in the areas of auditory processing, articulation and fluency,” said Dennis Siebenaler, assistant professor of music and O’Herron’s thesis committee chair. “The topic is of great relevance to teachers and administrators of all types who are facing the pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the urgency to have all students reading on grade level.”

Adds Marc Dickey, chair and professor of music, “Ms. O’Herron extends previous thought regarding the potential positive impact and importance of music training for young children and their ability to process language, both spoken and written. It is quality work that may have far-reaching consequences for language literacy and for the profession of music education.

O’Herron’s paper, she explains, “discusses the interaction of vocal music skills within phonemic awareness and prosody in training in kindergarten language arts instruction. Phonemic awareness is described by reading specialists as the ability to hear and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of language. Prosody, a function of fluency, focuses on the ability to put words together into natural speech rhythm, inflection and flow.”

A general music specialist for grades four and five in the Fontana School District, O’Herron examined available research to “make the argument that music education should be introduced in the early grades.”

The absence of music instruction in grades K-3 is a concern for her, as she sees among elementary school teachers, “a certain anxiety about testing.”

She is currently working with 14 kindergarten teachers to improve the quality of music modeling as it relates to the language arts curriculum and student reading achievement.

Her future plans include pursuing a doctorate — taking her master’s thesis a step further. “It needs to be proven that children who receive music education can improve in the language arts. It’s a critical issue.”

O’Herron resides in Corona and earned her master’s degree in January. Her award includes a $1,000 cash prize and a plaque presented at the university’s annual Honors Convocation.

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