This study investigates the impact of musical experience on the cognitive skills of bilingual children, specifically focusing on executive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. While bilingualism has been linked to enhanced cognitive functions due to the continuous management of two languages, the potential amplification of these effects through musical training has not been fully explored. A two-phase mixed-method approach was adopted. In the first phase, an online survey with both Likert-scale questions and open-ended responses was conducted with 23 bilingual participants from seven different countries. The results informed the design of the second phase, which involved in-depth interviews with three Japanese-English bilingual children aged 9 to 15 residing in Japan. The interviews revealed that musical experience could lead to changes in how phrases and intonation are expressed in different languages, enhancing emotional expression and communication skills. These findings suggest that musical training may strengthen the neural encoding of speech through overlapping cognitive processes. Data were qualitatively coded to identify common patterns, while regression analysis was used to examine relationships between musical experience and cognitive skills, though the small sample size limited statistical significance. The results support the integration of Bialystok’s theory on bilingual cognitive advantages, Green's Inhibitory Control Model, and Patel’s OPERA hypothesis. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how bilingualism and musical training intersect, providing practical insights for educational strategies and interventions aimed at optimizing children’s cognitive development.

Authors:
Doris Yuma Kashiwagi, Osaka Kyoiku University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Born in 1980, raised up in 21 countries. Studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Teaching music to Bilingual/ multilingual children for 20 years and now she’s focusing cognitive development of Bilingual children through music training.

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