Foreign language pronunciation skills and musical aptitude: A study of Finnish adults with higher education

The main aim of this study was to examine second language production and discrimination skills in the light of musical aptitude. Our study was conducted in university settings in south-western Finland. English was used as a model for the second language due to its popularity among young adults. There were three types of tests used in this study: a pronunciation test, a phonemic listening discrimination task, and the Seashore test as an index of the musical aptitude. All the participants performed equally well in the phonemic listening discrimination task. However, the participants with higher musical aptitude were able to pronounce English better than the participants with less musical aptitude. The results, therefore, imply that musical and linguistic skills are interconnected.