Aug 29, 2019
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/qpSt1Nj92lM
When parents simply their speech by using single word replies, shorter sentences, and fewer new words, infants develop language faster. This observation comes from a Cornell University study just published in the Journal of Child Language.
Pediatric behavioral specialists there studied the vocalizations of 30 infant-mother pairs on two consecutive days. They discovered that when many parents responded to their baby’s babbling, they tended to simply their language output. Those infants whose parents did streamline their speech showed accelerated vocal maturation even in the short run.
The study shows that babies actually cue their parents to present language to them in a form they can easily digest. If you want your own infant’s language skills to soar, follow their lead by responding to their babbling and consistently serving up bite sized language “snacks.”
Steven L. Elmlinger, Jennifer A. Schwade, Michael H. Goldstein. The ecology of prelinguistic vocal learning: parents simplify the structure of their speech in response to babbling. Journal of Child Language, 2019; 46 (05): 998 DOI: 10.1017/S0305000919000291
#Babbling #simplifiedlanguage #linguistics #parenting