HOW TO LEARN BABY FOR TALKING?
The ability to communicate with one another is essential to our existence as
human beings. From the time we are born, and even before birth, the foundation
is being laid for the development of language. Parents and caregivers have an
incredibly important, and enjoyable, part to play in that development.
When Adults Talk to Babies
Caregiving adults, especially mothers, seem to instinctively know the kind
of talking that babies respond to best. We have all heard the special talk that
is reserved just for infants—we hardly seem to be able to help ourselves
from using it when we see a newborn! What language experts once called "motherese"
is now known as infant-directed speech. Infant-directed speech is different
from speech we use with others in several ways: we use a higher pitch; we exaggerate
the range of pitches; we use shorter phrases and longer pauses between phrases;
and we use clearer pronunciation.
Although infant-directed speech isn't used in every culture, it is present
in many, many languages around the world. The drive to communicate is such a
strong part of our make-up that babies will develop spoken language even without
the support of infant-directed speech. But scientists have discovered that babies
pick up an amazing amount of knowledge about language and communication just
from hearing "baby talk."
Studies of infants and their mothers have shown that babies from birth prefer
to hear infant-directed speech (IDS). IDS draws infants' attention better and
holds it longer than regular speech. This increased attention helps to immediately
create a warm and enjoyable interaction between parent and baby that helps babies
make the connection between spoken words and emotion. A baby can begin to process
social information visually as she fixes her eyes on her parent's face.
Infants also learn a great deal about words themselves from IDS, long before
they understand word meanings or begin to use words to communicate. For example,
newborn infants can recognize the natural rhythm of speech from having heard
it within the womb. Newborns can discriminate differences in most speech sounds
and, over the next ten months, focus attention on sounds specific to their home
language. Within the first year, babies can recognize combinations of sounds,
then words and language rhythms, that are unique to their home language.
Studies of parents and babies from many cultures have shown that we constantly
adjust our speech as babies grow. For example, parents' talk to newborns is
filled with greetings and endearments and has a strong emotional content. On
the other hand, talk to one-year-olds is much more information-laden—filled
with labels, directions, descriptions, and questions. Researchers have also
found that parents who were better at making their own speech more complex as
their babies matured over the first year had babies that, at 18 months, had
a better understanding of word meanings.
When Babies Talk Back
Eye Contact and Gestures
Long before they begin to use words, babies join in "conversations"
with their caregivers. Even newborns use eye contact to let us know when they
want to interact. By four months, they can follow the direction that we are
looking. We also tend to look where the baby is looking, often commenting on
what we think she is looking at. Researchers have shown that this kind of joint
attention is especially helpful to babies' later language development, leading
to earlier and more use of words. Babies also learn to communicate by using
gestures. By the end of his first year, a baby can gain our attention and make
his wishes known by touching an object, holding it up, or pointing to it as
he makes eye contact with us.
Cooing and Babbling
As early as two months, infants begin producing cooing sounds. By four months,
they begin playing with sounds that are easy to make, repeating strings of vowel
and consonant combinations, like "bababa." Early babbling is found
in babies everywhere, even those who are deaf. But for babbling to continue
to develop into words, babies need to hear spoken language from others. By seven
months, babbling begins to include the sound combinations distinct to their
native language and, by a year old, babies' babbling includes a broad range
of sound combinations and may include their first words.
Conversational Turn-taking
As early as three months old, infants begin to learn the conversational skill
of turn-taking. In the beginning, we adults take the primary responsibility
in turn-taking. When we talk to an infant, we pause and then respond as though
she answered back. We also model turn-taking when we play games like pat-a-cake
and peek-a-boo with babies. Over the next several months, babies gradually become
more and more active participants in back-and-forth play and conversation.
By the beginning of the second year, babies use combinations of gestures, turn-taking,
and word-like sounds to communicate. A close listen to an older baby's babbling
will reveal someone hard at work experimenting with language sounds and matching
those sounds to the right objects and the right circumstances.
Building a Strong Foundation for Language Development
Time and time again, research has shown that early exposure to language leads
to greater language skills as children get older—and the more, the better.
At home and at child care, studies indicate that the more we talk to babies,
the better they will understand and use language later. Talk that is especially
effective in boosting language is talk that involves describing actions, asking
questions, and using a rich vocabulary. When we talk to babies while we are
dressing and feeding them as well as playing with them, we are providing exactly
what they need to learn to effectively use language to communicate.
Babies who hear more spoken language tend to use more words sooner. In turn,
those children who have larger vocabularies at age three have larger vocabularies
and comprehend language better when they enter school. And there is no doubt
that having a good grasp on language in the early school years will benefit
children throughout their school years.
What we don't need to do is to teach specific speech concepts and skills to
very young children. Infants and toddlers are very well equipped to make sense
of verbal language and learn the specifics, as long as we give them plenty of
"raw material" to work with. And parents and caregivers seem to know
instinctively how to talk to babies. However, parents and caregivers differ
widely in the amount that they talk to babies. As one expert source put it,
"To the extent that problems arise, it is generally not that parents are
doing the wrong things but that they're not doing enough of the right things."
Watching young children begin to communicate and learn to master spoken language
is a fascinating venture that will make anyone appreciate the abilities of even
the youngest infant. Parents and other important caregivers have the delightful
responsibility of supporting babies' language development by using rich language
as they care for, play with, and enjoy the babies in their lives. (by Kathy
L. Reschke, Ph.D - BABY.TopResource.NET Reference)
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