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Educational Psychology, Dr. Hafer

Effects of the design of written music on the readability for children with dyslexia

Julia Plato

March 20, 2017

In 2014, Nanke Flach, Anneke Timmermans, and Hanke Koerpershoek performed

research about music readability in dyslexic students called Effects of the design of written

music on the readability for children with dyslexia. Many dyslexic students have a difficult time

reading text. However, the research of Jaarsma et al. (1998) has shown that they also have

trouble reading music for two reasons. First, dyslexic students have a difficult time correctly

interpreting the meaning various musical notations. For example, these students are often

confused by the direction of the note stems which causes them to incorrectly read a pitch.

Second, written music contains a spatial component that requires the reader to look both

vertically and horizontally. This component is the most challenging, because dyslexic students

typically have difficulties distinguishing left and right, high and low, and rising and descending

patterns.

The research of Hubicki and Miles (1991) has shown that adjusting the color and size of

music can make it easier for a dyslexic student to read and understand. These adjustments

support in the discrimination between ascending and descending patterns as well as the spatial

component of note intervals. OBrien, Mansfield, and Legges (2005) research about font size of

music concluded that dyslexic students need 32% larger fonts to read as accurately as normal

readers at the same level. However, Rogers (1991) study specifically about the affect of color on

the readability of written music produced statistically insignificant results. Flach, Timmermans,

and Korpershoek built on the work of these previous researchers by comparing the design
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adaptations for written music in the performance of dyslexic students and normal reading

students.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the design of the

written music and its readability for dyslexic and non-dyslexic students through the manipulation

of variables such as size, color, and stem-direction. The goal of the research is to provide music

teachers with techniques they can use if their own dyslexic students have difficulties reading

music. The authors asked the research question: What are the effects of design adaptations in

written music on the performance of dyslexic students in music reading in comparison with non-

dyslexic students? They hypothesized that an increase in size, the use of colors, and the

consistency of stem direction would significantly improve the music reading performance of

dyslexic students.

The participants of the study were 72 students, ranging in age from eight to thirteen, from

four primary schools and one secondary school in the northern region of Netherlands. These

students were divided into three groups based on their difficulties reading. They were

categorized as dyslexia group if they had a formal diagnosis of dyslexia, reading difficulty group

if they experienced reading problems, and the remaining students fell into the normal reading

group.

The research method used in this study was a questionnaire which is a descriptive type of

research. The questionnaire began with questions about the background of the participants with

regards to reading, music education, and color blindness. The second part of the questionnaire

involved written music in varying forms of size, line color, and direction of stems. For each of

the three conditions there were several types of questions that assessed the music reading

precision of the students. The first type of question required the students to identify notes on the
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staff within a particular piece of written music. The second type of question asked the students to

determine whether a sequence of notes was ascending or descending. The final type of question

asked students to determine the correct position of a given note out of a set of four or five

alternatives.

The study resulted in proof that dyslexic students have more trouble reading music than

normal reading students. Dyslexic students made an average of 18.76 mistakes on the

questionnaire while the normal reading students made 9.31 mistakes. For both dyslexic and

normal reading students, an increase of size of the written music decreased the number of

mistakes. However, the decrease in mistakes was much more significant for dyslexic students.

More mistakes were made in the colored condition than the standard black and white condition,

however it was not enough to be considered statistically significant. Less mistakes were made

when the stem direction was the same compared to when the stems went in different ways.

However, the difference was much more significant for dyslexic students than normal reading

students. The authors concluded that while some dyslexic students have difficulties reading

music, others do not. It is important for music teachers to adapt the music for students who are

struggling so they can find success. This can be easily done by increasing the font size and

changing the stem direction by using a music notation software. All students are different, but

can be accommodated using the findings of this study.

This study was very thorough in the depth of its questionnaire. The researchers were

sure to give many different variations of the tested conditions to accommodate different types of

students. The study also separated the students by their reading ability in their results so it is easy

to see if the change of variable affected all students or only certain groups. However, the largest

flaw of this study was the size and type of sample that was used. Only 72 students were given the
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questionnaire and of them, only 18 had dyslexia. Additionally, these students were from a small

area of the Netherlands. In order to be more accurate, there should have been a larger sample size

that covered a larger area with a wider variety of demographics. I think that these findings can be

applied to real world experiences by music teachers. If teachers encounter a dyslexic child that

seems to be struggling with reading music, they can try and help their student succeed by using

the suggestions in this article.

This relates to Chapter Four of the Slavin textbook which focuses on the different

intelligences and learning styles. In the textbook, Slavin states that, If schools want all children

to be smart, they must use a broader range of activities and reward a broader range of

performances than they have in the past (Slavin, 2015, p. 92). Not all children are able to

succeed at the same things using the same devices. Some students learn visually while others are

aural or tactile learners. It is important to remember that, Many faltering students have

specialized minds- brains exquisitely wired to perform certain kinds of tasks masterfully, but

decidedly miswired when it comes to meeting other expectations (Slavin, 2015, p. 94). By using

methods such as enlarging the written music size, or changing the stem direction, dyslexic

students will be able to meet the expectations of the ensemble or class, despite their brains

wiring. These students will feel more included in the classroom because they will be able to find

success just like their normal reading peers.

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Works Cited

Flach, N., Timmermans, A., & Korpershoek, H. (2016). Effects of the design of written music

on the readability for children with dyslexia. International Journal of Music Education,

34(2), 234-246. DOI: 10.1177/0255761414546245

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: theory and practice. New Jersey: Pearson.