An investigation of the role of language in student conductors' comprehension and construction of musical meanings in practicum settings

In this thesis I investigated how four student conductors made musical meaning from their scores in rehearsals with their peers and the mediating role that verbal language played in that process. Rosenblatt's (1978, 1994) transactional theory of the literary work provided a framework for conceptualizing the performed musical work as a musical event. Halliday's (1975, 1978, 1985) social theory of language use, particularly his notion of 'register' served as the framework for interpreting the intended meanings of conductors' utterances during rehearsals, and for understanding the dialogic nature of language use. Vygotsky's (1962, 1978) socio-psychological theory of the interdependence of thought and language framed my interpretation of the kinds of learning that might take place when student conductors use verbal language to shape performances of musical works.I transcribed 12 videotaped practica, analyzed the transcripts, and interpreted the function and focus of the student conductors' utterances. The findings revealed that the students selected formal and expressive elements for attention, that they used proposals and appraisals to shape these elements in a variety of rehearsal contexts, that they used verbal language to explain, explore, and clarify their musical thinking within and beyond rehearsals.I concluded that the student conductors built up the sense of the musical work with the players by selectively attending to the musical elements they deemed to be musically valuable, and that their verbal language served a mediating function for them both as shapers and as learners of musical ideas. Although there were qualitative differences how they engaged with their scores, and in their use of verbal language, the processes by which they engaged in construction and comprehension of musical meanings were the same and their verbal language played the same role.The study led to the postulatation of three socially situated theoretical constructs that are relevant to a general theory of music teaching and learning: a construct of a transactional theory of the musical work, a construct of a 'rehearsal register' and a construct of the interconnectedness of verbal language and the formation of musical concepts and musical knowledge