Page 110 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani

that combines a variety of musical styles and technological tools to effectively
glasbenopedagoški zbornik ◆ letnik/volume 20 ◆ številka/number 41
address the individual learning needs of dyslexic students.
Habib et al. (2016) explored the impact and effectiveness of Cogniti-
ve Musical Training (CMT) for improving reading abilities in children with
dyslexia. The research framework consisted of two studies. The first study me-
asured the short-term effects of intensive cognitive-musical training (CMT)
on dyslexic children (n=12), over 3 consecutive days (18 hours total). The con-
trol group were non-dyslexic children (n=22) who did not undergo the CMT
programme. The experimental group (dyslexic children) was divided into three
groups and all of them participated in three training sessions during the pro-
gramme. The speech therapists designed the programme in order to improve
children’s auditory and motor skills, involving various musical components in
the programme exercises. All children from the experimental group participa-
ted in three training sessions (each lasting 45 minutes), which included: (1) mu-
sic exercises (tapping in synchronization with heard rhythm sequence, tapping
with the written notation of a rhythm); (2) music education with piano in-
struction; and (3) percussion and movement exercises. Each day included these
exercises, but with differences in the level of difficulty. The assessments invol-
ved categorical perception (phoneme identification and discrimination), sylla-
bic duration, and pitch discrimination. Their performance level was measured
both before and after each training, which was also measured in the control
group, who did not receive any interventions. Results showed that post-tra-
ining, children in the experimental group exhibited improvement in catego-
rical perception of syllables, particularly in duration discrimination. Pitch di-
scrimination did not show significant improvement. Positive effects of CMT
were found, suggesting that short-term musical interventions can help in im-
proving cognitive and auditory processing skills linked to language develo-
pment.
The second study aimed to extend the findings from the first study by eva-
luating the long-term effects of the CMT programme on dyslexic children
(n=12), conducted over six weeks. The study focused on determining whether
improvements observed in cognitive, auditory, and phonological tasks during
short-term CMT were sustainable and applicable in real classroom settings.
The children were divided into four groups, depending on their reading pro-
ficiency, and they participated in weekly workshops (three hours per week).
The programme included both full-class sessions (n=12) and small group acti-
vities (n=4), each lasting approximately 45 minutes. Full-class sessions focu-
sed on musical activities (rhythm exercises, singing, and percussion to enhance
auditory discrimination and attention). Small group sessions targeted phono-
logical tasks such as sound identification, syllable repetition, and letter-sou-
nd matching. The programme’s effectiveness was evaluated through a variety
of language, reading, and cognitive tests before, during, and after the six-we-
ek programme. Results indicated significant improvement in phonological

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