This thesis is concerned with the perception and production of lexical tone. In the first experiment, categorical perception of asymmetric synthetic tone continua was examined in speakers of tonal (Thai, Mandarin, and Vietnamese) and non-tonal (Australian English) languages. It was observed that perceptual strategies for categorisation depend on language background. Specifically, Mandarin and Vietnamese listeners tended to use the central tone to divide the continuum, whereas Thai and Australian English listeners used a flat no-contour tone as a perceptual anchor; a split based not on tonal vs. non-tonal language background, but rather on the specific language. In the second experiment, tonal (Thai) and non-tonal (Australian English) language speaking musicians and non-musicians were tested on categorical perception of two differently shaped synthetic tone continua. Results showed that, independently of language background, musicians learn to identify tones more quickly, show steeper identification functions, and display higher discrimination accuracy than non-musicians. Experiment three concerns the influence of language aptitude, musical aptitude, musical memory, and musical training on Australian English speakers‟ perception and production of non-native (Thai) tones, consonants, and vowels. The results showed that musicians were better than non-musicians at perceiving and producing tones and consonants; a ceiling effect was observed for vowel perception. Musical training per se did not determine acquisition of novel speech sounds, rather, musicians‟ higher accuracy was explained by a combination of inherent abilities - language and musical aptitude for consonants, and musical aptitude and musical memory for tones. It is concluded that tone perception is language dependent and strongly influenced by musical expertise - musical aptitude and musical memory, not musical training as such. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Graz, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-236) and abstract in English (p. 237).

The present study is a qualitative and quantitative interdisciplinary investigation of young children's vocal development. It investigated how vocalizations of young children mutate in relation to the children's linguistic and musical development, and the contexts in which these developments take place. Eight girls age eighteen to thirty-eight months participated in this study. Four spoke Chinese and four spoke English as their first language. Each child was visited every four to six months over a 42 month period. Acoustic analyses were performed on recorded vocal responses, and three judges classified the vocalizations and provided perceptual evaluation. It appears that young children have established communicative pitches that are associated with different forms of vocalizations by age two. All children consistently sang with higher fundamental frequencies than they used for speaking, while other forms of vocalization appear to be positioned consistently between singing and speaking. Both the mean fundamental frequency data and the qualitative data suggest some possible differences in vocal pitch behaviours across language. Chinese bilingual children made comparatively less but stable distinction between their speech and song; in their acoustic intermediate vocalizations however, the boundary between speech and song was "fuzzy". English monolingual children made increasingly clearer and wider acoustical distinctions between their speech and songs; their contextual intermediate vocalizations were made up of intermittent singing and speaking. The intermediate vocalizations observed in the present study appear to confirm that singing and speaking are two vocal phenomena that exist along a continuum. They call into question the entire concept of differences between singing and speaking both acoustically and contextually. These intermediate vocalizations offer a rich account of the linguistic and musical development of a child; they suggest that while first spoken language appears to affect vocal development, a child's non-speech auditory environment is also crucial to the understanding of her vocal behaviours.

Thèse--Faculté des lettres de Paris. / "Bibliographie de la liturgie grecque": 1 p. following p. xiv.

Thèse--Faculté des lettres de Paris. / "Bibliographie de la liturgie grecque": 1 p. following p. xiv.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tampereen yliopisto, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-263) and discography (p. 251-252). Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on August 10, 2009). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Comparative Literature. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2007. / "A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, MARCS Auditory Laboratories in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Dr. of Musical Arts)--University of Cincinnati, 2003. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Η Μελέτη αυτή ερευνά τη θέση και το ρόλο που έχει το τραγούδι στα σχολικά βιβλία όλων των μαθημάτων της Α΄ και Β΄ Δημοτικού, και κατά πόσον αξιοποιείται ως εκπαιδευτικό εργαλείο και υλικό ή αναγνωρίζεται ως τέτοιο, από τα σύγχρονα ΔΕΠΠΣ και αντίστοιχα ΑΠΣ. Στο θεωρητικό μέρος της έρευνας μελετώνται οι στενές σχέσεις της γλώσσας και της μουσικής καθώς και οι ευεργετικές επιδράσεις της μουσικής γενικότερα και της χρήσης τραγουδιών ειδικότερα, στη μάθηση και στην πολύπλευρη ανάπτυξη της προσωπικότητας του παιδιού. / In the present thesis we research the role of songs in greek education system. / This research is about the role of the song as an educational tool in the textbooks of the first and second classes of primary school. Particularly this research’s goal is to discover whether singing is being reclaimed as an educational tool and material or even if it’s being recognized as one, by contemporary curriculum. In the theoretical part we discuss about the relationship between language and music and the beneficial effects of music in general and the use of songs in particular, in learning and in the multifaceted development of a child’s personality.