A new study suggests that when parents talk to their babies, they may be helping them learn to speak.
The way we speak to babies is appealing to them and likely helps them understand what we're saying. According to new research from the University of Florida, baby talk can help babies learn to speak. The researchers think that by mimicking the sound of a small vocal tract, we're teaching babies how to speak.
Matthew Masapollo is an assistant professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Florida. "It's not just goo-goo ga-ga."
The researchers changed the frequencies to make them sound like an infant or an adult vocal tract. Six to eight-month-old babies have a distinct preference for speech with resonances specifying a vocal tract that is similar in size and length to their own.
The older babies' ability to control their voices and make words out of babble could be what makes the infant-like sounds more appealing.
Linda Polka, a co-author of the paper, says baby talk is doing a lot.
She said that they were trying to show the baby something about speech production. They're being primed to process their own voice.
Masapollo and Polka's research shows that patters associated with the speaking style of babies could help them make words.
The story was told
The University of Florida provided the materials. Alisson Clark wrote the original. Content can be edited for style and length.
Journal reference
Matthew Masapollo, Linda Polka, and Lucie Ménard. The stage for speech production should be set for infants to listen to speech sounds. The Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research was published in 2021.
