Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39816736›Full record

ArticleRoyal Society open science2025

Is musical ability related to second-language acquisition? A meta-analysis.

Rachel M Thompson, Lauren K Salig, L Robert Slevc

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Royal Society open science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rachel M ThompsonProgram in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4190-6872
Lauren K SaligProgram in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9394-9033
L Robert SlevcProgram in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In our multicultural and interconnected world, the ability to learn new languages is important. However, there are significant differences in how successfully adults can learn aspects of non-native languages. Given robust relationships between musical ability and native-language processing, musical ability might also contribute to successful second-language acquisition. However, while several studies have assessed this relationship in various ways, the consistency and robustness of the relationship between musical ability and second-language learning remains unclear. Thus, we synthesized 184 effects across 57 independent studies (

Indexed as

meta-analysismusical abilitysecond-language acquisition

Identifiers

PMID39816736
PMCPMC11732395

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.