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Music and language are both multimodal inputs that shape early development, supporting shared attention, sensorimotor coordination, and embodied engagement. Although structured musical training has been linked to enhanced language outcomes, the implications of informal, home-based music activities remain less understood, particularly among children who hear multiple languages at home. Guided by an embodied, embedded, ecological, enactive, and extended framework, this study examines how home music activities relate to language and motor development among toddlers with high English exposure (HE; ≥ 70% English) or high non-English exposure (HNE; > 30% non-English). Participants included 106 families with 18- to 31-month-olds (M = 23.13), comprising pre-pandemic lab-based (n = 30) and remote online (n = 76) cohorts. Parents reported children's engagement in music and non-music activities currently and retrospectively for infancy. Results revealed interactions between music activities and language exposure. HE toddlers exhibited higher English vocabulary and pragmatic skills than HNE toddlers. However, HNE toddlers who participated in more music activities demonstrated vocabulary and pragmatic abilities similar to their HE counterparts. Music activities also correlated with gross motor and perception-action skills. Findings highlight music's embodied and enactive contributions to language and motor development and provide novel insights into how music relates to HNE children's development.
Wei et al. (Fri,) studied this question.