VOA慢速英語(yǔ):研究發(fā)現(xiàn)音樂(lè)無(wú)助于提高孩子智力

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)教育報(bào)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(rèn)為教孩子音樂(lè)可以讓他們更聰明。但一項(xiàng)新研究的組織者表示，沒(méi)有任何科學(xué)證據(jù)可以表明早期音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)會(huì)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(jù)估計(jì)，80%的美國(guó)成年人認(rèn)為音樂(lè)課能提高孩子的學(xué)習(xí)能力以及他們?cè)趯W(xué)校的表現(xiàn)。他們說(shuō)，學(xué)會(huì)演奏一首曲子的滿足感有助于孩子展現(xiàn)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(xué)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)有一件事情音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)辦不到，他們說(shuō)，它不會(huì)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(xué)教育學(xué)院的一名研究生。他說(shuō)，認(rèn)為學(xué)會(huì)演奏一種樂(lè)器能夠提高孩子的智力發(fā)展是錯(cuò)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(shuō)，證據(jù)來(lái)自于測(cè)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(lè)課，另一組上了重視視覺(jué)藝術(shù)的課程。視覺(jué)藝術(shù)是一門看得見(jiàn)的藝術(shù)。

"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(jù)是否定的。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)沒(méi)有證據(jù)表明參加音樂(lè)課的孩子在這些測(cè)試中有任何優(yōu)勢(shì)。”

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(lè)培訓(xùn)是否可以讓孩子更聰明已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了很多次研究。他說(shuō)，研究結(jié)果有好有壞，只有一項(xiàng)研究似乎表明經(jīng)過(guò)一年的音樂(lè)課之后，學(xué)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(rèn)為智商是孩子智力一個(gè)很好的衡量。他說(shuō),他的研究人員比較了音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)組的孩子在智力任務(wù)或項(xiàng)目上的表現(xiàn)，然后將結(jié)果和沒(méi)有參加音樂(lè)課的孩子進(jìn)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(méi)有任何證據(jù)表明音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)組在智力任務(wù)上比另一組表現(xiàn)要好得多。研究人員通過(guò)一大群孩子及其父母證實(shí)了這一結(jié)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(shuō)，音樂(lè)課可能無(wú)法在孩子以后的生活中給他們提供一個(gè)進(jìn)入最好學(xué)校的捷徑。但他表示，由于文化原因，音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)仍然很重要。用他的話來(lái)說(shuō)，“我們教音樂(lè)是因?yàn)橐魳?lè)對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)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?cè)谖锢韺W(xué)上會(huì)表現(xiàn)更好。而教莎士比亞是因?yàn)樗苤匾?。他說(shuō)，“我不認(rèn)為音樂(lè)應(yīng)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(guān)于音樂(lè)培訓(xùn)對(duì)兒童有益之處的報(bào)告發(fā)表在《公共科學(xué)圖書館期刊》上。