1 The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: A Systematic Review Ow Su Sinn1, Poon Chiew Hwa1, Cheong Ku Wing2, Shelly Cooper3 1Universiti Malaya, Malaysia 2UCSI University, Malaysia 3University of Nebraska Omaha, United States Submitted: 2022-03-31. Revised: 2022-04-26. Accepted: 2022-06-13 Abstract Music-based approaches, including singing and movement, have received an extensive examination by researchers. Previous study results have revealed that music-based approaches improved young children’s music skills and enhanced social, linguistic, and logical thinking skills. This review characterizes and compares existing studies to investigate the use of music and movement to improve linguistic skills. This systematic review followed the SPIDER search tool by investigating the samplings (S), the phenomenon of interest (PI), design (D), evaluation (E), and research type (R). This systematic review includes studies published between 2001-2018 with participants ranging from 4 to 12 years old. The authors investigated the designs of 20 articles. Keywords: music and movement, young children, linguistic skills, song-based, music education How to Cite: Ow, S. S., Poon, C. H., Cheong, K. W., & Cooper, S. (2022). The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: A Systematic Review. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education, 22(1), 1-14 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022), 1-14 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v22i1.36313 Laban incorporated various approaches and methods that utilizing music and mo- vement in their curricula. Music-based approaches which in- cluded singing and movement have recei- ved an extensive examination by resear- chers. Various researchers investigated the effectiveness of music and movement intervention on young children’s abilities. Michelaki and Bournelli (2016) examined how creative movement improved kines- thetic skills among preschool children. Anna (2016) claimed that musical activities were beneficial in early childhood educa- tion, especially in the development of lin- guistic, mathematical, and communication skills. Bharathi, Venugopal, and Vellingiri (2019) studied the Orff- Schulwerk appro- INTRODUCTION In ancient Greek, Plato and Aristot- le articulated the importance of music and gymnasium within their music educati- on philosophy. Plato claimed that infants started to learn music and movement by singing and dancing with their mothers. The balance of music and movement play- ed a crucial role in young children’s music knowledge and in “cultivating their souls” (Stamou, 2002). Aristotle elaborated and recognized the “gymnasium” approach as physical training (Burkholder, Grout & Palisca, 2019; Stamou, 2002). Lewis (1998) defined the music and movement appro- ach as the combination of music and dan- ce. Educators such as Dalcroze, Orff, and Corresponding author: E-mail: chiewhwa.poon@um.edu.my p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-142 ach on social skills among children with autism. They identified that music and movement approaches successfully impro- ved the participants’ understanding, res- ponding, and interactions with their peers. Linguistic skills play a crucial role in children‘s growth development. Ac- cording to the Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory by Gardner (1999), linguistic in- telligence involved communication skills that allowed learners to engage in socie- ty and utilize language to achieve goals. From the existing research studies, many researchers identified that the music and movement approach significantly impro- ved language skills. However, many stu- dies involved children with special needs as their subjects, such as children with down syndrome (Pienaar, 2012), children with dyslexia (Katsarou, 2018), and child- ren with autism (Bharathi, Venugopal & Vellingiri, 2019). In general, few studies exist that focus on typical young children (Moorehead-Carter, 2015; Davis & Fan, 2016). Further, linguistic skills play a cru- cial part in children’s developmental cog- nitive abilities. From the existing studies, the proli- feration of the music and movement inter- vention should be well explored by iden- tifying the appropriateness of music-based intervention in different settings of the classroom. This study aimed to contribu- te to the music education industry by al- lowing future researchers or educators to compare the interventions and designs lis- ted in this systematic review. The purpose of this systematic review was to investiga- te existing studies involving music-based intervention on linguistic skills among young children using the SPIDER search strategy tools to address the research ques- tions by investigating the following crite- ria: samplings, the phenomenon of inte- rest, design, evaluation, and research type on this particular research topic. METHOD The method used in this systema- tic review was adopted according to the SPIDER search strategy tools which inclu- ded the sample (S), phenomenon of inte- rest (PI), design (D), evaluation (E), and research type (R) (Cooke, Smith & Booth, 2012). The main purpose of this review was to identify the purpose, methodology, and inclusion criteria to evaluate the vali- dity of conclusions (Higgins & Gren, 2005). Search Strategy The systematic literature search was conducted from five online databases: Semantic Scholar, Research Gate, SAGE, Science Direct, and JSTOR. Additional- ly, the authors utilized a manual search through Google Scholar to detect any ad- ditional related literature. The following search terms were used: music and mo- vement, singing and dancing, young age children, linguistic skills, and language learning. As the search revealed a large number of recent studies, the authors then limited the studies to those using partici- pants from kindergarten to elementary- age children with typical physical and cognitive abilities published between 2001 to 2018. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Studies selected were based on the following inclusion criteria: (1) involved participants who were kindergarten age to elementary age with typical physical and cognitive abilities; (2) researchers examin- ed the effects of music intervention, either music-based or music and movement- based, on linguistic skills; (3) methodolo- gy included pre- post-test experimental or quasi-experimental. The focus of this review aimed to study the effects of music and movement intervention on linguistic skills among children. Therefore, the studies compi- led various researches design which in- cluded quantitative, qualitative studies, and mixed-mode articles that evaluated participants who were not English native speakers, articles that involved various de- pendent variables which also included lin- guistic skill variables, or articles that used other interventions combined with music. Ow Su Sinn et al., The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: a Systematic 3 The study excluded studies that failed to provide completed demographic data about the participants and others with a focus on special needs children and tee- nagers. Studies with the non-experimental design were also excluded. Table 1. Data Analysis Sample Group Age Small Sample Size N<30 (%) Large Sample Size N>30 (%) Kindergarten 20 40 Elementary 10 25 Kindergarten and Elemen- tary 5 0 From our coding of the data found in the literature, few studies investigated the effectiveness of the music-based inter- vention on young age children’s linguistics skills. This study only focused on music- based intervention with typical children. From the selected studies, there were va- rious methods of music-based intervention discussed to improve linguistic skills. In addition, different dimensions of linguis- tic skills were evaluated, and a wide range of methodologies were investigated. Thus, the review aimed to review the samplings, phenomenon of interest, design, evalua- tion, and research type of the studies which focused on music and movement intervention on young children’s linguis- tic skills. The samplings involved children of kindergarten age through elementary age; The range of music-based interven- tions included (a) music, movement, and play strategies, (b) song-based interventi- on, (c) existing music-based method, (d) rhythm-based intervention, and (e) music instrumental program; The dimensions of linguistic skills involved (a) reading achie- vement, (b) pronunciation and fluency, (c) communication skills, (d) vocabulary ac- quisition, (e) grammatical understanding, and (f) immediate recalling; The different measurements of linguistic skills included (a) daily observation, (b) survey form, (c) vocabulary test, (d) language development test, (f) interviews, and (g) teacher and pa- rent reports; There were three methodolo- gies were conducted which were (a) quan- titative method, (b) qualitative method, and (c) mixed-mode case study RESULT AND DISCUSSION The search identified 103 articles, with 20 that met the inclusion criteria. Data analysis and comparison between the 20 articles were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the music-based inter- vention on linguistic skills. Table 1 lists the selected articles according to the SPIDER method. Samplings (S) Tables 2 and 3 show the participants’ samplings from the twenty existing stu- dies. These studies were categorized by investigating the age group of participants and the sample size. Table 2. The Age Group of the Samplings Sample Group Age N Percentage (%) Kindergarten 11 55 Elementary 8 40 Kindergarten and Elementary 1 5 Table 3. The Sample Size of the Samplings Sample Group Age Small Sample Size N<30 (%) Large Sample Size N>30 (%) Kindergarten 20 40 Elementary 10 25 Kindergarten and Elementary 5 0 Eleven studies involved Kindergar- ten children ages four to six as their stu- dy participants. Four studies conducted small group samples with less than 30 par- ticipants, and eight studies included lar- ge group small group samples with more than 30 participants. Most small sample sizes involved qualitative methods such as interviews and observation. The aut- hors conducted daily observations and tracked each participant’s daily progressi- Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-144 on (Cochran, 2008; Loell, 2001). The large sample groups mostly utilized quantita- tive methods which involved assessment and test (Davis & Fan, 2016; Lee & Lin, 2015; Linnavalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huo- tilainen & Tervaniemi, 2018). Compared to the samples using only kindergarten-age participants, most other studies involved larger samples. Coban and Dubaz (2011) involved 52 students and 52 students’ parents, Schellenberg, Corrigall, Drys, and Malti (2015) included 83 participants, Maneshi (2017) included 300 students, and Reifinger (2018) invol- ved 170 participants. Two studies with smaller sample sizes which were not more than 30 participants (Carter, 2015; Long, 2014) included recommendations for fu- ture studies to use a larger sample size stu- dy to increase the data’s generalizability. Seven studies involved elementary-age participants but included different par- ticipant age ranges. Studies involving a broad age range of participants such as Long (2014) selected participants ages 9 to 13 which had affected the reliability and accuracy of the result due to the different ability and growth development of parti- cipants. The intervention was also unsui- table for broad age group participants as it might be overly easy or challenging. Some studies involved a limited age range. For example, Schellenberg, Corrigall, Drys, and Malti (2015) examined 3rd to 4th-gra- de participants, and Maneshi (2017) had participants who grade 5 and 6. These stu- dies had minimized the participants’ age range, presenting more reliable results as it showed the efficiency of the intervention with specific age group participants. Three studies only involved one grade level of participants: grade 3 (Moorehead-Carter, 2015), grade 2 (Reifinger, 2018), and grade 1 (Cochran, 2008). These studies presented more focused and accurate data on the ef- fectiveness of the intervention. However, there was a study that had not stated the age group of participants specifically but only stated elementary-age children (Co- ban & Dubaz, 2011). This might confuse future researchers with the effectiveness of the intervention on specific age group par- ticipants. One study involved kindergarten and elementary-age children. Maroti et al. (2018) had gathered six to seven years old participants. The study involved 63 participants, and the participants were as- signed to three experimental groups: Cre- ative Playing with Music and Movement intervention, Creative Music Appreciation with Movement method, and Kodaly’s sin- ging-based method. The authors provided a clear view of the effectiveness of diffe- rent interventions on young children’s lin- guistic skills. The phenomenon of Interest (PI) Various music-based interventions were introduced from the selected stu- dies. The two main interventions were song-based. The song-based interventi- on was utilized in seven studies, and the participants were guided to sing without movement (Cochran, 2008; Good, Russo & Sullivan, 2015; Maneshi, 2017; Moorehead- Carter, 2015; Reifinger, 2018; Ritblatt, Longstreth, Hokoda, Cannon & Weston, 2013; Zhou & Li, 2017). There were diffe- rences existed between the song-based in- tervention applications. Some researchers involved singing activities (Good, Russo & Sullivan, 2015; Moorehead-Carter, 2015; Ritblatt, Longstreth, Hokoda, Cannon & Weston, 2013; Reifinger, 2018) or listening activities (Maneshi, 2017). Researchers also used a combination of song-based with other designed activities. Cochran (2008) infused singing, discussion, question- answer session, and word chanting game to encourage participants to practice vo- cabulary and word structure. Zhou and Li (2017) taught the participants through a song-based storybook and encouraged participants to sing along. This interventi- on showed a positive effect for the song- based intervention on linguistics skills among young children. The positive effect had enhanced the statement from previous researchers, Jensen (2005) and Governor, who agreed that singing could be an effec- tive teaching tool for transferring know- Ow Su Sinn et al., The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: a Systematic 5 ledge and information. Yet, the one-based interventions limit the possibilities of in- cluding other music activities. Children should not be taught to sit still, sing along, or play instruments in the music class- room. Kihoro (2017) claimed various mu- sic activities create an environment where students are engaged. Undoubtedly, they would be more engaged with the class and more energetic and enthusiastic in class. Therefore, there were more studies that had applied the music and movement in- tervention in their studies. The music and movement interven- tion involved a combination of singing and movement activities. Music games played an essential role in engaging parti- cipants and provide an enjoyable learning environment. Thirteen studies infused a variety of music and movement interven- tions with specific approaches/curriculum such as Education Through Music (ETM) (Loell, 2001), Heidi’s Songs (Loell, 2001; Martin, 2017), Orff (Coban & Dubaz, 2011), Dalcroze (Long, 2014), and Kodály method (Schellenberg, Corrigall, Drys and Malti, 2015). The flexibility of using music and movement allowed teachers and resear- chers to plan and design curriculum accor- ding to the participants’ ages, classroom settings, and linguistic skill levels. Therefore, self-designed music and movement approaches have been imple- mented as interventions. Yazejian and Peisner-Feinberg (2009) designed a simple music game titled “start-stop,” which re- quired participants to incorporate singing with movement. Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen, and Rozendal (2012) involved “circle time, “ including vocal exploration, singing, and creative movements. Lee and Lin (2015) encouraged participants to use facial ex- pressions and gestures to respond to music activities. The researchers composed a Hel- lo Song, Letter Song, and Goodbye Song to teach participants social skills and requi- red the children to move to the songs. Lin- navalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen & Tervaniemi (2018) involved singing, game playing, rhyming, and instrument playing. Data showed that music and movement interventions yielded benefits to young children’s linguistic skills. However, some study descriptions did not provide details regarding the self-designed curriculum or specific music games and songs used in the intervention. Some researchers compared song- based intervention and music and mo- vement intervention to investigate and compare their effectiveness (Davis & Fan, 2016; Maroti et al., 2018). This provided efficient and clear results. Davis and Fan (2016) noted the combination of music and movement intervention and song- based intervention was equally effective in improving linguistic skills. Maroti et al. (2018) also claimed that both experimen- tal groups exposed to music and move- ment intervention significantly improved working memory and verbal skills more than the singing-based intervention. Song- based and music and movement interven- tion improved young children’s linguistic skills; however, the music and movement intervention was more effective by provi- ding an energetic and enjoyable learning environment through musical play. The effectiveness of music and mo- vement intervention implemented in the existing studies has enhanced previous researchers’ statements in highlighting the importance of music and movement inter- vention (Lewis, 1998; Stamou, 2002). Design (D) Table 4 shows the different designs of the 20 articles. The selected studies mainly utilized a pre-post-test experimen- tal design. There were five studies which involved kindergarten participants had, included an experimental group and a con- trol group, to investigate the effectiveness of music-based intervention (Linnavalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen & Terva- niemi, 2018; Lorenzo, Herrera, Candelas & Badea, 2014; Ritblatt, Longstreth, Hokoda, Cannon & Weston, 2013; Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozendal, 2012; Yazejian & Peis- ner-Feinberg, 2009). However, the results did not allow for comparisons between the music interventions on the participants‘ Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-146 Table 4. Summaries of Selected Studies Author(s), Date Sampling (S) Phenomenon of Interest (PI) Design (D) Evaluation (E) Research Tyoe (R) 1. Coban and Dubaz, 2011 52 elementary- age children and 52 parent Music and movement intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Assessment, personal information form, and observation form Quantitative Method 2. Cochran, 2008 23 kindergarten children Song-based intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Assessment, daily obser- vation, and interactions Mixed-mode Method 3. Davis and Fan, 2016 64 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention Two experimental groups and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Self-designed assess- ment Quantitative Method 4. Good, Russo and Sullivan, 2015 38 elementary- age children Song-based intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Self-designed assess- ment Quantitative Method 5. Lee and Lin, 2015 23 kindergarten age children Music and movement intervention Single group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment and interview Mixed-mode method 6. Linnavalli, Put- kinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen and Tervaniemi, 2018 66 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention Single experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 7. Loell, 2001 25 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention Single group pre-posttest experimental design Daily observation, inter- actions, and formal and informal assessment Qualitative method 8. Long, 2014 15 elementary- age children Music and movement intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 9. Lorenzo, Her- rera, Candelas and Badea, 2014 213 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 10. Maneshi, 2017 300 elementary- age children Song-based intervention Three experimental groups and a control group pre-posttest experi- mental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 11. Maroti et al., 2018 63 kindergar- ten-age and elementary-age children Music and movement intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 12. Martin, 2017 18 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention Single group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment and teacher research journal Mixed-mode method 13. Moorehead- Carter, 2015 29 elementary- age children Song-based intervention Single group pre-posttest experimental design Survey and assessment Quantitative Method 14. Reifinger, 2018 170 elementary- age children Song-based intervention Single group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 15. Ritblatt, Longstreth, Ho- koda, Cannon and Weston 2013 102 kindergarten children Song-based intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment, teacher and par- ent report Quantitative method 16. Runfola, Eto- pio, Hamlen, and Rozendal, 2012 165 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 17. Schellenberg, Corrigall, Dys and Malti 2015 83 elementary- age children Music and movement intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment Quantitative method 18. Walton, 2014 93 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment and self-designed assessment Quantitative method 19. Yazejian and Feinberg 2009 207 kindergarten children Music and movement intervention An experimental group and a control group pre-posttest experimental design Standardized assess- ment, teacher survey and parent survey Quantitative method 20. Zhou and Li, 2017 106 kindergarten children Song-based intervention Two experimental groups pre-posttest experimental design Self-designed assess- ment Quantitative method Ow Su Sinn et al., The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: a Systematic 7 linguistic skills. For example, Linnavalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen, and Ter- vaniemi (2018) compared the effectiveness of music games and simple instrument playing intervention to the control group participants’ linguistic skills. The results revealed that the music games and instru- ment-playing intervention group signifi- cantly improved linguistic skills. It could not conclude that either intervention‘s effectiveness enhanced the participants’ linguistic skills. Three studies included two experimental groups with different interventions: song-based music and mo- vement with regular language programs (Walton, 2014) and a song-based story- book with listening and reading (Zhou & Li, 2017). In addition, Davis and Fan (2016) compared two experimental groups which included song-based intervention and cho- ral repetition intervention, to the control group. Three studies investigated the pre- and post-test results with an experimental group (Lee & Lin, 2015; Loell, 2001; Martin, 2017). The studies involving more experi- mental groups presented detailed and spe- cific effects of different interventions. For example, Davis and Fan (2016) identified that the experimental groups using the music and movement intervention or the song-based intervention improved equally on linguistic skills when compared to the control group. The implementation of mu- sic played an essential role in improving participants‘ linguistic skills. There were two studies that inves- tigated elementary-age participants in an experimental research design utilizing a control group (Long, 2014; Schellenberg, Corrigall, Drys & Malti, 2015). There were also two studies that involved two or more experimental groups utilizing different interventions. Cochran (2008) designed singing and chanting-based interventi- on with traditional reading instruction. Coban and Dubaz (2011) involved active learning-based education with music in- fusion, and the other experimental group was conducted with normal education lessons. Good, Russo, and Sullivan (2015) designed song-based intervention with spoken form intervention. Maneshi (2017) included three experimental groups and one control group. Each experimental group was assigned to listen to the song at different frequencies. These studies pre- sented detailed results of the differences of various interventions. For example, Ma- neshi (2017) concluded that participants who were listened more times to the songs showed an increase in linguistic skills among the two experimental groups and one control group. On the other hand, the- re were two studies that had infused single group pretest- post-test design by compa- ring the result of pretest and post-test to seek the effectiveness of the intervention (Moorehead-Carter, 2015; Reifinger, 2018). These studies did not present an accurate result as participants may have improved through other external influences other than the music-based intervention. Com- parisons among multiple experimental groups or control groups presented a more specific result regarding each intervention. The duration of the treatment plays a crucial role when investigating the ef- fectiveness of music-based approaches on children’s linguistic skills. Zhou and Li (2017) suggested that longer interven- tion durations present more convincing results. Researchers can explore the long- term effectiveness of the treatment and can avoid interactions with other conditions. The duration of the existing studies ran- ged from two weeks to two years. Two studies involved one to two weeks, limi- ting the treatment‘s long-term applicabili- ty (Good, Russo & Sullivan, 2015; Zhou & Li, 2017). Seven studies ranged in duration from four to ten weeks (Coban & Dubaz, 2011; Davis & Fan, 2016; Loell, 2001; Long, 2014; Maneshi, 2017; Martin, 2017; Moore- head-Carter, 2015). In comparision, eleven studies lasted longer than four months (Cochran, 2008; Lee & Lin, 2015; Linnavalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen & Tervaniemi, 2018; Lorenzo, Herrera, Candelas & Badea, 2014; Maroti et.al,2018; Reifinger, 2018; Ritblatt, Longstreth, Hokoda, Cannon & Weston 2013; Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozen- Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-148 Table 5. Design of the Selected Studies Author(s), Date Experimental Group 1 Experimental Group 2 Control Group Curation of the Treat- ment 1. Coban and Dubaz, 2011 Active learning model and Orff’s method Conventional edu- cation No treat- ment 8 weeks 2. Cochran, 2008 Singing and chanting Traditional reading instructions N/A 1 year 3. Davis and Fan 2016 Song- based with games and activities Choral repetition No treat- ment 7 weeks 4. Good, Russo and Sullivan, 2015 Singing based Spoken form with the rhythm of the poem N/A 2 weeks 5. Lee and Lin, 2015 Musical storytelling, musical movement and instrument playing N/A N/A 18 weeks 6. Linnavalli, Put- kinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen and Tervaniemi, 2018 Musical games, Simple instrument playing N/A No treat- ment 2 years 7. Loell, 2001 Waldorf Summer Institute and Education through Mu- sic (ETM) and Heidi Songs approach N/A N/A 10 weeks 8. Long, 2014 Dalcroze’s rhythmic based N/A No treat- ment 6 weeks 9. Lorenzo, Herrera, Candelas and Badea, 2014 Singing, movement and instruments playing N/A No treat- ment 2 years 10. Maneshi, 2017 Song Listening N/A No treat- ment 5 weeks 11. Maroti et.al, 2018 Creative playing with music and movement Creative playing appreciation with movement Singing- based 8 months 12. Martin, 2017 Singing, movement and Heidi Song’s approach N/A N/A 4 weeks 13. Moorehead-Cart- er, 2015 Singing- integrated reading instructions N/A N/A 8 weeks 14. Reifinger, 2018 Pitch sight singing skills N/A N/A 24 weeks 15. Ritblatt, Long- streth, Hokoda, Cannon and Weston, 2013 Song Singing N/A No treat- ment 1 year 16. Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen and Rozen- dal, 2012 Vocal exploration, creative movement and singing N/A No treat- ment 2 years 17. Schellenberg, Corrigall, Dys and Malti, 2015 Group Music Training N/A No treat- ment 10 months 18. Walton, 2014 Music and movement Regular language and literacy pro- grams N/A 12 weeks 19. Yazejian and Peisner-Feinberg, 2009 Music, movement and musi- cal games N/A No treat- ment 6 months 20. Zhou and Li, 2017 Shared of singing pictured book instruction Story listening and reading N/A 1 week Ow Su Sinn et al., The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: a Systematic 9 dal, 2012; Schellenberg, Corrigall, Dys and Malti, 2015; Walton, 2014; Yazejian & Peis- ner-Feinberg, 2009). However, the effects of maturity threat might cause partici- pants to lose interest and patience with the intervention. Besides, the improvement or failure of the participants’ linguistic skills might be affected by other conditions such as the availability of English classes at their school. Evaluation (E) Table 5 shows the evaluation of the selected studies. The evaluation catego- ry refers to the measurement instruments and measurement criteria for linguistic skills. Linguistic skills were defined diffe- rently by researchers. For example, Gard- ner (1999) noted that linguistic skills in- volved communication skills, including communication awareness and the poten- tial to utilize language to achieve goals. Erlina et al. (2019) claimed that linguistic skills helped learners understand informa- tion easier and clearer. In addition to diffe- rent definitions, linguistic skills also inclu- ded verbal skills, vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, pronunciation, reading fluency, and more. From the selec- ted studies, linguistic skills were measured and evaluated from different dimensions (see Table 5). Vocabulary acquisition was wide- ly evaluated (Davis & Fan, 2016; Good, Russo & Sullivan, 2015; Linnavalli, Putki- nen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen & Tervaniemi, 2018; Maneshi, 2017; Martin, 2017; Run- fola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozendal, 2012; Schellenberg, Corrigall, Drys & Malti, 2015; Zhou & Li, 2017). The vocabulary acquisition evaluated participants’ vo- cabulary understanding skills and used standardized assessments such as Peabo- dy Picture Vocabulary Test-III (Yazejian & Peisner-Feinberg, 2009) and Word Recog- nition in Isolation and Word Recognition in Context (Moorehead-Carter, 2015). The standardized assessments were reliable and suitable for children, with most of the assessments using pictured-based material and oral questioning. Young children we- remore developmentally appropriate with the oral-based assessement than the written test. Researchers also utilized self-designed vocabulary assessments to address par- ticipant backgrounds (Davis & Fan, 2016; Maneshi, 2017; Zhou & Li, 2017). Davis and Fan (2016), and Zhou and Li (2017) involved participants who were not native English speakers and viewed a standar- dized vocabulary acquisition assessment as overly challenging for the participants. The phonological awareness dimenaison was wdiely evaluaed in the selected stu- dies (Good, Russo & Sullivan, 2015; Lin- navalli, Putkinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen & Tervaniemi, 2018; Maroti et.al, 2018; Walton, 2014; Yazejian & Feinberg, 2009). Phonological awareness focused on par- ticipants’ pronunciation while speaking or reading. Participants were required to read with structured passages or sentences and were rated by the examiner. Reading skills were also defined as a component of linguistic skills and involved reading at- titudes (Carter, 2015; Cochran, 2008; Lee & Lin, 2015; Long, 2014) and reading compre- hension (Cochran, 2008; Lee & Lin, 2015; Long, 2014; Reifinger, 2018). According to Hagan (2013), reading attitudes evaluate participants’ feelings about reading and aim to develop positive reading habits. Reading comprehension evaluates the understanding of the content within text. Both dimensions’ measurements were de- signed with statements or story passages followed by questions or opinions asked afterward. The researchers mainly utili- zed standardized assessments to test par- ticipants’ reading abilities; Cochran (2008) and Carter (2015) infused Elementary Rea- ding Attitude Survey (ERAS) and Long (2014) utilized Neale‘s analysis of reading ability (NARA). There were also various dimen- sions of linguistic skills evaluated within the studies: grammatical understanding (Long, 2014; Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozendal, 2012), sentence recalling (Good, Russon & Sullivan, 2015; Maroti et al., 2018 Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozen- dal, 2012, Zhou & Li, 2017), and commu- Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-1410 Table 6. Evaluation of the Selected Studies Author(s), Date Measurement Criteria Measurement Instrument 1. Coban and Dubaz, 2011 Multiple Intelligence which included linguis- tic skills Multiple Intelligence Development Assessment Scale, Personal Information Form, and Observa- tion Form 2. Cochran, 2008 Reading attitudes and reading achievement Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS), STAR Reading Test 3. Davis and Fan, 2016 Vocabulary acquisition Self-designed English Vocabulary assessment 4. Good, Russo and Sullivan, 2015 Sentence recall, pronunciation, and vocabu- lary translation Self-designed assessment 5. Lee and Lin, 2015 English understanding and expression Semi-structured observation form 6. Linnavalli, Put- kinen, Lipsanen, Huotilainen and Tervaniemi, 2018 Phoneme processing, vocabulary subtests, perceptual reasoning skills, and inhibitory control Neurocognitive assessments 7. Loell, 2001 Student engagement and language develop- ment Daily observation, interactions, formal and infor- mal assessment 8. Long, 2014 Reading comprehension, reading accuracy, reading rate, reading fluency, reading be- havior, grammatical structures, and phrase contours Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA) 9. Lorenzo, Her- rera, Candelas and Badea, 2014 The initiative, social relations, creative repre- sentation, music and logical thinking HighScope Spanish Version of the Child Obser- vation Record (COR) 10. Maneshi, 2017 Vocabulary acquisition Multiple-choice vocabulary assessment 11. Maroti et al., 2018 Working memory, phonological processing, verbal skills 3DM-H Test of Phonological Awareness, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV and Empathy Index of Bryant 12. Martin, 2017 Sight word acquisition Qualitative journal and self-designed assessment 13. Moorehead- Carter, 2015 Academic, composite reading attitudes, flu- ency and reading rate Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS), Qualitative Reading Inventory-5, Words per Minute (WPM) 14. Reifinger, 2018 Linguistic reading fluency and comprehen- sion Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 15. Ritblatt, Longstreth, Ho- koda, Cannon and Weston, 2013 Language and reading skills Kindergarten Readines Survey 16. Runfola, Eto- pio, Hamlen and Rozendal, 2012 Vocabulary acquisition, grammatical understanding, sentence recalling, and oral language skills Test of Language Development: Primary (3rd edition) 17. Schellenberg, Corrigall, Dys and Malti, 2015 Vocabulary acquisition Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test — Fourth Edition 18. Walton, 2014 Phonological skills, pronunciation and word reading Self- designed rhyming test, Sound Isolation Test, Letter Sound Knowledge, and self-de- signed reading test. 19. Yazejian and Peisner-Feinberg, 2009 Language skills and phonological awareness skills Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- III and Early Phonological Awareness Profile 20. Zhou and Li, 2017 Sentence recalling and vocabulary acquisi- tion Self-designed assessment 2009). However, there were studies that did not state a specified dimension of lin- guistic skills but presented general data of language development (Coban & Dubaz, nication skills (Lorenzo, Herrera, Candelas and Badea, 2014; Runfola, Etopio, Hamlen & Rozendal, 2012; Yazejian & Feinberg, Ow Su Sinn et al., The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on Linguistic Skills: a Systematic 11 2011; Loell, 2001). Most studies included several di- mensions to investigate a broad scope of linguistic skills among participants. For example, Cochran (2008) explored reading achievement, fluency, prosody, phrasing, and choral reading. Yazejian and Feinberg (2009) investigated participants‘ commu- nication skills, language understanding skills, and phonological awareness. On the other hand, some studies focused on one dimension of linguistic skills. Coban and Dubaz (2011) infused Multiple Intel- ligence Development Assessment Scales to evaluate elementary-age participants’ multiple intelligence skills and linguistic skills. Martin (2017) studied participants’ sight word acquisition. Research Type (R) Sixteen studies applied utilized the quantitative methods of standardized or self-designed assessments, surveys, ques- tionnaires, and observation forms. From the existing studies, researchers involved numerous standardized assessments and surveys according to the participants’ age group, sample size, and classroom setting. Self-designed assessments were also in- corporated. The quantitative data allowed researchers to present numerical data to generalize the effectiveness of the inter- vention on a specific age group of partici- pants. It avoids biases and subjective inter- pretation by examiners and researchers. The mixed-mode case study invol- ved a combination of assessment, ques- tionnaire, parent report, and interview. The qualitative data presented a deeper understanding to support the numerical data. Due to the participants’ young ages, interviews, surveys, and questionnaires may not be developmentally appropriate; therefore, the interviews and surveys were completed by parents or teachers (Lee & Lin, 2015; Yazejian & Peisner, Feinberg, 2009). Parents‘ and teach- ers’ reports clarified the progression of the participants (Martin, 2017; Ritblatt, Longstreth, Hokoda, Cannon & Weston, 2013). A mixed-mode study helps resear- chers to investigate the data in-depth as participants’ linguistic skills might impro- ve or regress due to other variables. Parents and teachers are familiar with the children and able to identify the participants’ daily progression. Table 7. Research Type of the Selected Studies Research Type N Percentage (%) Quantitative method 16 80 Qualitative method 1 5 Mixed-mode method 3 15 From the selected studies, only one study used a qualitative method. Loell (2001) included daily observation inves- tigation and formal and informal assess- ment. The lesson observation showed daily progression, whereas participants might be nervous completing formal assess- ments. The daily observation presented a clear, detailed progression throughout the duration of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS The authors reviewed and discussed 20 studies focused on the effectiveness of the music-based intervention on linguis- tic skills. Overall, the music and move- ment intervention was the most frequently implemented intervention. Due to the fle- xibility of the music-based intervention, few studies examined the effects of combi- ning music-based intervention with other interventions. Future research is sugge- sted in this area. However, the variety of interventions and duration lengths among the studies made generalizability difficult. Data showed that music-based interventi- on significantly improved linguistic skills among kindergarten-age and elementa- ry-age children. By comparing the song- based intervention and music and move- ment intervention, music and movement intervention was more effective to enhance students’ linguistic skills by engaging their muscle memory. Besides, musical play which had been highly infused in music and movement intervention had encou- Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 1-1412 raged students to practice their language skills with their peers. These studies supported previous researchers‘ statements claiming that mu- sic can enhance linguistic skills through song-based and music and movement interventions. However, music and mo- vement intervention was more effective than the song-based intervention as it pre- sented a comfortable and relaxed learning environment of musical play. Students en- gaged in memorization with the learned knowledge by experimenting and experi- encing music activities. Yet, scarce studies investigated and compared the effective- ness between song-based interventions and music and movement interventions. 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