VOA慢速英語:研究發(fā)現音樂無助于提高孩子智力

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。

Many people believe that teaching children music makes them smarter, better able to learn new things. But the organizers of a new study say there's no scientific evidence that early musical training affects the intelligence of young people.

許多人認為教孩子音樂可以讓他們更聰明。但一項新研究的組織者表示，沒有任何科學證據可以表明早期音樂培訓會影響青少年的智力。

An estimated 80 percent of American adults think music lessons improve children's ability to learn or their performance in school. They say that the satisfaction for learning to play a new song helps a child express creativity.

據估計，80%的美國成年人認為音樂課能提高孩子的學習能力以及他們在學校的表現。他們說，學會演奏一首曲子的滿足感有助于孩子展現創(chuàng)造力。

Researchers at Harvard University, however, have found that there's one thing musical training does not do. They say it does not make children more intelligent.

然而哈佛大學的研究人員發(fā)現有一件事情音樂培訓辦不到，他們說，它不會使孩子更聰明。

Samuel Mehr is a graduate student at Harvard's School of Education. He said it is wrong to think that learning to play a musical instrument improves a child's intellectual development.

塞繆爾·梅爾(Samuel Mehr)是哈佛大學教育學院的一名研究生。他說，認為學會演奏一種樂器能夠提高孩子的智力發(fā)展是錯誤的。

He says the evidence comes from studies that measured the mental ability of two groups of 4-year-olds and their parents. One group attended music class, the other went to a class that places importance on the visual arts -- arts that can be seen.

他說，證據來自于測試兩組4歲兒童及其父母心智能力的多次研究。其中一組上了音樂課，另一組上了重視視覺藝術的課程。視覺藝術是一門看得見的藝術。

"The evidence there is 'no.' We found no evidence for any advantage on any of these tests for the kids participating in these music classes," said Mehr.

梅爾表示，“這里的證據是否定的。我們發(fā)現沒有證據表明參加音樂課的孩子在這些測試中有任何優(yōu)勢。”

Samuel Mehr says researchers have carried out many studies in an effort to learn whether musical training can make children smarter. He says the results have been mixed. He says only one study seems to show a small percentage increase in IQ, intellectual scores among students after one year of music lessons.

梅爾表示，研究人員為了弄清楚音樂培訓是否可以讓孩子更聰明已經進行了很多次研究。他說，研究結果有好有壞，只有一項研究似乎表明經過一年的音樂課之后，學生們的智商有很小比例的提高。

He does not believe that IQ is a good measure of a child's intelligence. He says researchers in his study compared how well children in the musical training group did on mental processing tasks or projects, then the results were compared to those of children who did not take lessons.

他不認為智商是孩子智力一個很好的衡量。他說,他的研究人員比較了音樂培訓組的孩子在智力任務或項目上的表現，然后將結果和沒有參加音樂課的孩子進行比較。

There was no evidence that the musical training group did much better on the mental tasks than the other group. The researchers confirmed the results with a larger group of children and their parents.

沒有任何證據表明音樂培訓組在智力任務上比另一組表現要好得多。研究人員通過一大群孩子及其父母證實了這一結果。

Mr Mehr says music lessons may not offer children a fast easy way to gain entry to the best schools later of their life. But he says the training is still important for cultural reasons. In his words, "We teach music because music is important for us."

梅爾先生說，音樂課可能無法在孩子以后的生活中給他們提供一個進入最好學校的捷徑。但他表示，由于文化原因，音樂培訓仍然很重要。用他的話來說，“我們教音樂是因為音樂對我們來說非常重要。”

He notes that the works of writer William Shakespeare are not taught, so the children will do better in physics. He says Shakespeare is taught because it is important. "And I don't think music needs to be any different than that."

他指出，不教作家莎士比亞的作品，這樣孩子們在物理學上會表現更好。而教莎士比亞是因為它很重要。他說，“我不認為音樂應該與此有所不同。”

A report on the benefits of musical training in children was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

一份關于音樂培訓對兒童有益之處的報告發(fā)表在《公共科學圖書館期刊》上。