Speaking “Parentese” With Young Children Can Boost Their Language Development

By Emily Reynolds Language learning can be a matter of much concern for new parents, who often worry about what their baby is saying, how they’re saying it, and when. With previous research suggesting that frequent verbal engagement with babies can boost vocabulary and reading comprehension, this preoccupation is not without merit. But even those parents who aren’t too fixated on baby’s first word may in fact be improving their offspring’s language, even if they’re not aware of it. A form of speech dubbed “parentese” may be a key factor in improving language learning in infants, a new study in PNAS has suggested. Naja Ferjan Ramírez and colleagues from the University of Washington examined the distinctive form of sing-song speech often aimed at babies, finding that it improved conversation between parents and their children and even boosted language development. It’s important to note that parentese is not the same as baby talk: it’s less “googoo gaga” and more an exaggerated form of normal speech. So rather than the nonsense noises that usually characterise baby talk, parentese is defined by the higher pitch, slower tempo and exaggerated intonation of the speaker, a tone many of us have adopted around children without even realising it. The researchers assigned 71 families with typically-developing six month old babies to one of two conditions. In the coaching condition, parents were given feedback on their use of language, speaking s...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Babies Developmental Language Source Type: blogs