Effect of Music, Gestures, and Music with Gestures on the Sight-Word Recognition of Students with Dyslexia

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of music, gestures, and music with gestures on the sight-word recognition of students with dyslexia. Specifically, this study examined participants': 1) sight-word recognition in isolation, 2) time-delay in sight-word recognition, 3) sight-word recognition in reading passages, and 4) reading comprehension of reading passages. Students with dyslexia at a private school for students with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder served as participants (N = 6). All participants received reading instruction on the target sight-words using music, gestures, and music with gestures. During the music condition, participants sang the target words to short melodic motifs. During the gesture condition, participants signed the words. During the music with gesture condition, participants both sang and signed the target words. Results indicated that participants made significant improvement pre- to posttest for sight-word recognition in isolation and in reading passages. All conditions resulted in significant participant improvement pre- to posttest; however, both music and gestures used alone were significantly more effective than music with gestures. There was no significant difference in participants' time-delay of sight-words in isolation or in reading comprehension of selected passages.