Effects of Musical Training on Phonological Awareness in Early Primary Children in Imo State

This study investigates the effects of structured musical training on phonological awareness among children in the early years of primary school in Imo State, South East Nigeria. Phonological awareness, the ability to recognise and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language, is a foundational literacy skill, and growing evidence from cross-linguistic contexts suggests that musical training may enhance phonological processing through shared neural mechanisms. This research employed an experimental design in which 180 Primary 1 and 2 pupils across four schools in Owerri were randomly assigned to a 12-week music instruction programme or a standard arts and crafts control condition. Phonological awareness was assessed at baseline and post-intervention using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening tool adapted for Nigerian English. Analysis of covariance was applied to post-test scores with baseline performance as a covariate. Results demonstrate that pupils in the music training group showed significantly superior phonological awareness, particularly in syllable segmentation, rhyme recognition, and phoneme blending tasks, compared to the control group. Effects were largest among pupils from less print-rich home environments, suggesting that musical training may partially compensate for lower literacy stimulation outside school. The study recommends that the Imo State Ministry of Education incorporate structured music education into the early primary curriculum as a cost-effective literacy readiness strategy. Keywords: musical training, phonological awareness, early primary children, Imo State, literacy.