Date of Completion

Spring 5-10-2020

Thesis Advisor(s)

Emily Myers

Honors Major

Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

Second Honors Major

Music

Disciplines

Acting | Music Practice | Other Linguistics | Other Music | Performance Studies | Phonetics and Phonology | Speech and Hearing Science | Speech Pathology and Audiology

Abstract

This study investigates the intersection of musical ability and accent imitation, more specifically defining what factors cause a relationship between the two. The study was run on 50 participants, who each completed an accent imitation ability assessment, a musical ability assessment, and an articulation ability assessment. The scores for the accent imitation portion were rated by anonymous online raters. Each participant filled out a questionnaire on prior musical experience and were either classified as a musician or non-musician. The analysis found that those in the musician group performed better on the musical ability, articulation, and accent ability assessment than non-musicians. I concluded that melody and beat were the two main factors influencing the musicians' superior accent imitation skills. I also found through correlational analysis that good performance on the articulation assessment was the best determiner of good accent imitation ability.

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