Baby-Talk

Baby-to-baby talk could spur speech development: study

At six months, infants prefer listening to each other than to adults, according to a new Canadian study that could have implications for helping children learn to talk.

Babies' natural attraction to one another's "goo-goo" sounds could be what kick-starts and supports the essential processes involved in speech development.

A research team at McGill University discovered babies' mutual attraction to their own sounds in several experiments in which they played a repeating vowel sound.

This sound was played in two formats, one being similar to how an adult woman would mimic baby talk and the other format imitating genuine baby talk.

It's important to note that in both cases the sounds were crafted using a synthesis tool rather than being produced by human vocal cords.

The research team measured how long the sounds held the babies' attention and they showed a clear preference for those that corresponded with their own sounds, listening to the baby frequency a full 40 per cent longer, on average.

Why we mimic baby talk?

Parents and caregivers could be demonstrating a very human intuition when they imitate their babies' goo-goos and ga-gas, according to the study.

"Perhaps, when we use a high, infant-like voice pitch to speak to our babies, we are actually preparing them to perceive their own voice," says senior author Professor Linda Polka, of McGill's School of Communication Disorders.

Okay...  That's interesting.

Dads 'use adult tone not baby talk'

Mothers are more likely to coo at their babies, while fathers address them more like small adults - but both approaches help children learn, a study suggests.

Scientists at Washington State University used speech recognition software to analyse differences in parents' speech patterns.

Mothers' "baby talk" is believed to promote bonding.

But fathers, who use a more adult tone with babies, may provide a "bridge" to the outside world, the researchers say.

The researchers analysed hundreds of hours of family speech, including mothers, fathers and their pre-school children.

Families wore microphones, and their interactions were recorded over the course of a normal day.

The research detected distinct differences between the ways mothers and fathers spoke to their pre-school children.

Mothers used a voice that was higher and more varied in pitch than the tone they used when addressing other adults.

"Baby talk", sometimes referred to as "Motherese", has exaggerated, attention-catching cadences, which are attractive to babies and young children.

Fathers, by contrast, used intonation patterns more similar to those they used when speaking to adult friends and colleagues.

But this did not imply fathers were failing to engage with their children, said lead researcher Mark VanDam, professor of speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University.

"This isn't a bad thing at all. It's not a failing of the fathers," said Prof VanDam.
He suggested the different approach could help children deal with unfamiliar speech patterns and acquire language as they grew up.

Huh...  Really.


So, two different approaches, each providing a unique benefit ?  And a role for both parents ?  Amazing.

Snark failed to show up today.