In linguistics, prosody encompasses the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech, and this plays an important role in the language-learning process. This study seeks to understand this phenomenon further, providing novel language learning data with nursery rhymes as a vehicle to teach adults foreign words. Building on models of Dynamic Attending Theory and Phonological Short-Term Memory, it was theorized that the accuracy of foreign word learning is predicted by the prosodic cues present in the word’s learning context. This experiment included 3 tasks to explore this theory. Task 1 tested how accurately the participant processed the beat of a musical sequence. In Task 2, participants learned foreign words in a nursery rhyme context. Finally, in Task 3, participants were asked to identify which words they recognized from a large list of foreign words. Results showed a significant effect for prosodic cues’ influence on word memory. Specifically, temporal and rhythmic cues hierarchically facilitate phonological short-term memory, as represented in this paper’s proposed theoretical model. A potential link was also found between individual rhythmic ability and memory of foreign words. Overall, the present thesis offers a theoretical understanding of the use of nursery rhymes during adult foreign language learning / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / In linguistics, prosody encompasses the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech, which plays an important role in the language-learning process. When adults don't have the meaning of words to rely on, they often use these rhythmic cues to remember them better. This research involved three tasks: processing the beat of music, learning foreign words through nursery rhymes, and then recognizing those words from a list. The results showed that rhythmic and timing cues are helpful for remembering words. Also, individuals with better rhythmic skills may demonstrate better word memory. This study suggests that using nursery rhymes could be an effective tool for teaching adults new languages.

La recherche d'invariants phonétiques ou phonologiques dans un corpus tel que les nursery rhymes nous a amené à les collecter, à les contraster et à les analyser. La collecte finale se fit grâce au dictionnaire des nursery rhymes, compilé par les folkloristes anglais, Peter et Iona Opie, une anthologie étymologique de référence. Ils passèrent de nombreuses années à répertorier toutes sortes de nursery rhymes, anciennes et récentes, populaires et inconnues. Le but de la collecte de ce corpus était de la faire de façon globale et neutre sans apport initial d'enfants. La deuxième étape fut une réflexion sur leur identité et leur forme ce qui aboutit au constat qu'une comptine n'en était une que si elle continuait à exister. Faisant partie de la tradition orale, la nursery rhyme doit être récitée, scandée régulièrement par un public précis pour qu'elle se transmette et continue son parcours intergénérationnel . Un sondage fut mis en place auprès d'une centaine d'enfants anglophones qui contrastèrent le corpus global en deux entités. Le résultat fit apparaître un corpus de comptine toujours connues et récitables par les sondés et un autre corpus de comptines oubliées. A partir de ces deux nouveaux corpus, une analyse phonétique fut entreprise pour dégager un ou des invariants inhérents à la condition de nursery rhyme. En couplant le premier et le dernier son-consonne accentué de chaque vers de chaque comptine et en prenant la place de l'articulation comme mesure de référence, il se dégage deux mouvements majoritaires dans leur énonciation, un mouvement d'arrière en avant pour les comptines populaires et un mouvement d'avant en arrière pour celles qui sont oubliées. / The search for phonetic or phonological invariants in nursery rhymes made us collect them globally, contrast them through a survey and analyse them. The Opies, British folklorists, published an Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes which became our primary source of material as their precious collection of rhymes had the advantage of being global and objective. Once the corpus established, it became obvious that these nursery rhymes had different statuses as to their popularity among children. The need to contrast them was necessary. A survey was set up and presented to more than a hundred English-speaking children. It resulted in 2 sub-corpuses, popular nursery rhymes (PNR) and forgotten ones (FNR). The question was what made them belong to one or the other? A phonetic analysis was ploughed through the corpuses. By pairing the first and the last stressed consonant-sound of every verse of every nursery rhyme and taking the place of articulation as reference, 2 major opposite enunciative movements arose, a back-to-front movement (B2F) for popular nursery rhymes and a front-to-back movement (F2B) for the forgotten ones.

A definição mais imediata para canção de ninar, uma das várias denominações brasileiras para este gênero poético-musical, é estabelecida por sua finalidade: canção feita para adormecer criança pequena; uma definição funcional,portanto. A análise do conteúdo poético e da forma destas canções permite identificar os elementos imprescindíveis à sua composição e eficácia estética, ampliando tal conceito. Desta maneira, a canção de ninar pode ser considerada um dos primeiros objetos culturais a que o ser humano é exposto. O medo da morte (perdas, despedidas, separações), presente nos cuidados maternos, paternos e de outros adultos com as crianças pequenas, especialmente com os recém-nascidos, penetra as canções de ninar em diferentes culturas, expressando-se em vários elementos, inclusive em suas figuras de terror. A esta linha interpretativa, substancializada por constatações advindas de uma prática clínica de atendimento psicológico às famílias de recém-nascidos, foi acrescida outra de caráter mais sociológico: o estudo de alguns textos de canções de ninar tradicionais brasileiras revelou elementos dos encontros e desencontros étnico-culturais dos diferentes povos que formaram a nação brasileira. O traço de terror, geralmente compreendido como medida disciplinar para o sono, aparece acentuado nas nossas canções também porque se origina em um ambiente colonial, escravocrata, contaminado por ameaças e hostilidades. Junto a vestígios de horror apareceram também traços de resistência e preservação cultural das etnias indígenas e negras; como se as canções de ninar fossem veículos propícios ao transporte resguardado de elementos fundamentais da cultura dos grupos humanos colonizados ou escravizados. As pesquisas e reflexões de Mário de Andrade e o estudo de acalantos compostos por artistas brasileiros contemporâneos permitiram conhecer e delinear melhor este gênero: o contexto que o origina, seu tom melancólico, sua forma curta e repetitiva, o uso da sonoridade nasal hum e da vogal u. Por sua qualidade artística, o acalanto pode revigorar o ambiente cultural que cerca o nascimento e a infância. Neste sentido, ele é potencialmente humanizador. O ambiente cultural é tão fundamental e delimitador da experiência humana quanto o ambiente físico e emocional (familiar ou institucional). Cuidar do surgimento das palavras, da sua afinação com a experiência vivida, de seu vigor e sentido; cuidar da experiência inicial com a palavra é condição para o desenvolvimento pleno deste ser de linguagem que é o homem. Assim, redimensiona-se neste estudo o conceito de puericultura que passa a abranger também as ações de cultivo da palavra e da poesia com a criança pequena. / The most immediate definition of lullaby, only one among several Brazilian denominations for this poetic-musical genre, is determined by its main purpose: a song intended for little children to fall asleep, a functional definition, therefore. The analysis of the poetical content and of the form of these songs allows us to identify the essential elements of their aesthetic composition and effectiveness, broadening such concept. Thus, the lullaby may be considered one of the first cultural objects that the human being is exposed to. The fear of death (losses, farewells, separations), present in the cares given by mothers, fathers and other grown-ups to little children, especially newborn babies, permeates the lullabies in different cultures, expressing itself in many elements, including its terror figures. To this interpretative line, based on observations derived from the practice of psychological assistance to the families of newborn babies, another one of a more sociological nature has been added: the study of some texts extracted from traditional Brazilian lullabies has revealed elements of the ethnic-cultural matches and mismatches of the different cultures that shaped the Brazilian nation. The element of terror, generally understood as a disciplinary measure for sleeping, is highlighted in our songs because it also has its origin in a colonial slave-based environment, contaminated by threats and hostilities. Along with the vestiges of horror, there have arisen traces of resistance and cultural preservation of black and indigenous ethnic groups, as if the lullabies had been proper conducive vehicles to the hedged transportation of fundamental elements of the culture of the colonized or enslaved human groups. The researches carried out by Mario de Andrade, as well as his reflections, and the study of lullabies composed by contemporary Brazilian artists allowed the better understanding and outline of this genre: the context where it comes from, its melancholic tone, its short and repetitive form, the use of the nasal sonority \'hum\' and the vowel \'u\'. For its artistic value, the lullaby can be quite refreshing for the cultural environment surrounding birth and childhood. In this sense, it is potentially humanizing.The cultural environment is as important and delimiting for human experience as the physical and emotional environment (familiar or institutional). Caring about the arising of new words, their affinity to the life experience, their vitality and sense; caring about the initial experience with words is a condition for the full development of this language-based being, the man. Hence, in this study, the concept of childcare is resized so as also to include the actions of cultivation of word and poetry with the little child.

A definição mais imediata para canção de ninar, uma das várias denominações brasileiras para este gênero poético-musical, é estabelecida por sua finalidade: canção feita para adormecer criança pequena; uma definição funcional,portanto. A análise do conteúdo poético e da forma destas canções permite identificar os elementos imprescindíveis à sua composição e eficácia estética, ampliando tal conceito. Desta maneira, a canção de ninar pode ser considerada um dos primeiros objetos culturais a que o ser humano é exposto. O medo da morte (perdas, despedidas, separações), presente nos cuidados maternos, paternos e de outros adultos com as crianças pequenas, especialmente com os recém-nascidos, penetra as canções de ninar em diferentes culturas, expressando-se em vários elementos, inclusive em suas figuras de terror. A esta linha interpretativa, substancializada por constatações advindas de uma prática clínica de atendimento psicológico às famílias de recém-nascidos, foi acrescida outra de caráter mais sociológico: o estudo de alguns textos de canções de ninar tradicionais brasileiras revelou elementos dos encontros e desencontros étnico-culturais dos diferentes povos que formaram a nação brasileira. O traço de terror, geralmente compreendido como medida disciplinar para o sono, aparece acentuado nas nossas canções também porque se origina em um ambiente colonial, escravocrata, contaminado por ameaças e hostilidades. Junto a vestígios de horror apareceram também traços de resistência e preservação cultural das etnias indígenas e negras; como se as canções de ninar fossem veículos propícios ao transporte resguardado de elementos fundamentais da cultura dos grupos humanos colonizados ou escravizados. As pesquisas e reflexões de Mário de Andrade e o estudo de acalantos compostos por artistas brasileiros contemporâneos permitiram conhecer e delinear melhor este gênero: o contexto que o origina, seu tom melancólico, sua forma curta e repetitiva, o uso da sonoridade nasal hum e da vogal u. Por sua qualidade artística, o acalanto pode revigorar o ambiente cultural que cerca o nascimento e a infância. Neste sentido, ele é potencialmente humanizador. O ambiente cultural é tão fundamental e delimitador da experiência humana quanto o ambiente físico e emocional (familiar ou institucional). Cuidar do surgimento das palavras, da sua afinação com a experiência vivida, de seu vigor e sentido; cuidar da experiência inicial com a palavra é condição para o desenvolvimento pleno deste ser de linguagem que é o homem. Assim, redimensiona-se neste estudo o conceito de puericultura que passa a abranger também as ações de cultivo da palavra e da poesia com a criança pequena. / The most immediate definition of lullaby, only one among several Brazilian denominations for this poetic-musical genre, is determined by its main purpose: a song intended for little children to fall asleep, a functional definition, therefore. The analysis of the poetical content and of the form of these songs allows us to identify the essential elements of their aesthetic composition and effectiveness, broadening such concept. Thus, the lullaby may be considered one of the first cultural objects that the human being is exposed to. The fear of death (losses, farewells, separations), present in the cares given by mothers, fathers and other grown-ups to little children, especially newborn babies, permeates the lullabies in different cultures, expressing itself in many elements, including its terror figures. To this interpretative line, based on observations derived from the practice of psychological assistance to the families of newborn babies, another one of a more sociological nature has been added: the study of some texts extracted from traditional Brazilian lullabies has revealed elements of the ethnic-cultural matches and mismatches of the different cultures that shaped the Brazilian nation. The element of terror, generally understood as a disciplinary measure for sleeping, is highlighted in our songs because it also has its origin in a colonial slave-based environment, contaminated by threats and hostilities. Along with the vestiges of horror, there have arisen traces of resistance and cultural preservation of black and indigenous ethnic groups, as if the lullabies had been proper conducive vehicles to the hedged transportation of fundamental elements of the culture of the colonized or enslaved human groups. The researches carried out by Mario de Andrade, as well as his reflections, and the study of lullabies composed by contemporary Brazilian artists allowed the better understanding and outline of this genre: the context where it comes from, its melancholic tone, its short and repetitive form, the use of the nasal sonority \'hum\' and the vowel \'u\'. For its artistic value, the lullaby can be quite refreshing for the cultural environment surrounding birth and childhood. In this sense, it is potentially humanizing.The cultural environment is as important and delimiting for human experience as the physical and emotional environment (familiar or institutional). Caring about the arising of new words, their affinity to the life experience, their vitality and sense; caring about the initial experience with words is a condition for the full development of this language-based being, the man. Hence, in this study, the concept of childcare is resized so as also to include the actions of cultivation of word and poetry with the little child.