How to Master Baby Talk (and Why You Should Do It)
Many of us instinctively understand that constant communication with an infant is important for its development. But perhaps more importantly, we realize that child development research shows that encouraging a child’s language development depends not only on the number of words they hear, but also on the interactions between the child and their parents. guardian.
“Twenty to thirty years ago, it was thought to be about the number of words kids hear,” said Rebecca Parlakian , a child development expert at Zero to Three, a nonprofit organization. “But in fact, babies and toddlers do not learn language from lectures; they learn a language when we have an engaging, responsive interaction with them.”
How Communication Helps Children Build Language
Even with a child reacting to their cooing and gurgling tongue, such as: “Are you a hungry boy?” is part of how they start learning a language. When they get a little older, the speech becomes reciprocating, when the baby can say: “What is this?” and their parent replied, “It’s a dog!” it really lays the foundation for language learning.
“Children learn language best when they are in a relationship with someone who answers and interacts with them,” Parlakian said.
When your toddler asks what it is, in addition to answering his question, it’s helpful to provide additional information to help answer questions he can’t put into words. “At this point, toddlers run out of language because they don’t have a vocabulary,” Parlakian said.
So if you continue by saying something like, “Oh, look, the dog is sniffing a tree,” it will expand the conversation beyond the original “what is that?” question. and helps respond to some of their non-verbal “what’s going on?”
“When we talk about the birth of three-year-old children, most of their communication, at least until the age of two, is carried out through gestures, facial expressions and vocalizations, but not necessarily words,” said Parlakyan. “There is a lot to notice, respond to cues and use language to signify, tell and respond to what our children are interested in.”
Use descriptive language
Most of our interactions with children use very utilitarian language, such as “Have you packed your toys?” or “Are you hungry?” While this is certainly important, parents should also be aware of the introduction of new vocabulary words. In the early days of a child’s life, it is helpful to try to be as descriptive as possible when talking about the world around him. While walking around the area, you can point to fluffy cat fur, towering sunflowers, or fluffy white clouds in the sky.
Another good way to introduce a child to a language that would not otherwise be used in everyday life is to read books with children. We may not be talking about pirates to listen to, or very hungry caterpillars, or a little engine that could be on a regular basis, so books provide an opportunity to build vocabulary.
“Exchanging books, singing, writing poetry all introduce children to unique vocabulary words,” Parlakian said. “Books, in particular, use a lot of words that we don’t use in everyday speech.”
“Baby talk” is a natural instinct that we must embrace.
The natural instinct when talking to an infant or toddler is to use what researchers call ” parentesis “, which is characterized by lengthened syllables and emphasis on keywords. As Parlakian points out, this instinct is found all over the world, and parents should embrace it. “Virtually every culture uses parentese,” Parlakian said. It seems to be something unconscious.
There is evidence to suggest that the use of parenthesis can aid in a child’s language development, and that the more a parent interacts with each other, especially in the earliest months and years, the better. For parents who are concerned that their baby talk might not be age appropriate, we actually instinctively correct that too.
“Parents quite unconsciously tend to use parenthesis and quite unconsciously tend to adjust their language as the child grows,” Parlakian said. In other words, as children get older, parents tend to modify their use of parenthesis to suit their child’s needs without knowingly doing so.
“As our children’s language grows and becomes more complex, we adults, as their guardians, unconsciously match the complexity of their language,” Parlakian said.