Abstract:

The paper presents selected results of a pilot study dealing with examination of language and musical memory of pupils in primary education, that was conducted at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic. The aim of the research was to find out a certain relationship (attitude) to music and foreign languages, to map a level of language memory at pupils of 4th and 5th primary school classes and to detect whether there is a relation between music and language memory of those pupils. The first part the paper analyses the issue of linguistic and musical memory in terms of possibilities, conditions and ways of learning of foreign languages and music. It is based on ontogenetic, cognitive and psychological processes of pupils’ learning in primary education. The second part presents results of a pilot research with pupils in the 4th and 5th year of primary school, which point to the possibilities of researching this issue.
At first, the respondents were given a non-standard questionnaire that ascertained their relationship to music and foreign languages. A listening test consisting of 10 selected language sequences was another research method. Results of listening tests were written in answer sheets by respondents, where we then determined the level of their language memory. Semantic differential had been chosen for data processing, which consisted in measuring the intensity of respondents’ psychological attitudes to the perception of a given foreign language.
The research pointed to a certain interconnectedness of music and language, which is defined on a theoretical basis using similar rules. Although the results are not statistically significant for the monitored respondents, they can be used in the learning process. We wanted to provide a deeper insight into the process of learning foreign languages by working on these issues and thus to encourage further similar research.

Keywords:

musical and language memory, primary education.