Baby Talk Helps Babies Learn Words Faster - New Research

Baby Talk Helps Babies Learn New Words Faster 

New research by researchers at Washington State University have investigated whether " parentese" or  "baby talk" helped babies learn new words faster.

Like many scientists before them,  the researchers concluded that using " the special tones and repetitions of " baby talk" or " parentese" did help babies learn to say new words faster. But what is surprising is the difference - a whole 60%  difference.

And the importance of one-to-one parent-baby conversations is a big contributing factor too.

“What our analysis shows is that the prevalence of baby talk in one-on-one conversations with children is linked to better language development, both concurrent and future,”

So the benefits  are not just short-lived but are long-lasting.

In my book " How to Teach Baby to Talk" I describe techniques of using baby talk and one-to-one parent-baby interaction starting from the day they are born. This research confirms this is a better way to help babies learn to talk, than simply making sure babies hear a lot of adult conversation.

The focus of attention needs to be getting the baby's attention and making sounds that the baby is interested in.  A higher pitched voice and a sing song tone that adults find themselves using naturally is after all, the best course of action and it's so much fun!

When the babies were 2 years old, parents filled out a questionnaire measuring how many words their children knew. Infants who had heard more baby talk knew more words. In the study, 2-year olds in families who spoke the most baby talk in a one-on-one social context knew 433 words, on average, compared with the 169 words recognized by 2-year olds in families who used the least babytalk in one-on-one situations.

So don't let anyone tell you baby talk is harmful to babies. Share this article with anyone who tells you baby talk is bad for babies.

Read the full report here:

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/01/06/babbling-babies-responding-to-one-on-one-baby-talk-master-more-words/

Baby Development - Some First Words Tips

When parents or caregivers ask about baby development, and baby's first words in particular, it would be terrific to give a really simple standard answer, but that isn't possible when all babies and all parents are different.

So when people ask when a baby will say his first words, I'm tempted to say - well it depends how many words he's heard spoken to him. It's not enough to just have heard words spoken. 

The words need to have been related to the baby's needs and experiences.  It also depends what exactly we mean by words. If a baby looks at a cup and says " up", is that a word? We know he means cup, and that his mouth just isn't mature enough to say the "c" , Or early baby babbling from around 6 months is full of many "words" but we have no idea what they mean.

This Youtube video shows some baby babbling. Sounds a lot like dadadada!

So when we say "first words" it seems we mean a combination of sounds that we recognize and understand that are related to something we know. 

So here are a few tips to help baby get to the point of  babies saying " meaningful words"

1. Turn off your mobile phone
   'hearing' you talking to your friends on your mobile phone are only a tiny bit useful to a baby learning to talk.  He needs you to be focused on him and the words you are using need to be focused on an activity he or  you are doing. You need to be talking in clear short simple words and repeating the words and the actions. Talking on your mobile phone doesn't help here.
2. Turn off the TV
   often TV's are just left on in a room when no-one is watching it and the sound becomes a background for what other things are happening. As adults we have developed the great skill of being able to focus on what we want to hear and blocking out other sources of sound, so it fades into the background. Young children haven't developed the same skill and the sound from a TV can interfere with hearing all the separate sounds in the words you are speaking. So all that is heard is an even more meaningless jumble.
3. Play simple games
   Playing games is the heart of learning to talk and I use 'heart" deliberately. Joy, humour and laughter speed up learning. When a baby smiles and laughs we know his attention is focused. So the kind of games to play in the first few months that make babies smile and laugh is repeating the same action over and over along with repeated sounds and words. At least 10 minutes of every day should be spent doing action play.
4. Be aware
   When your baby is awake, try to put yourself in his place; imagine what its like to be him,  and ask yourself every two minutes, what would I be experiencing and learning?  Try doing that for a period of 30 minutes. 

If you found this post helpful, share it or leave a comment below.