Infants directed speech (“Baby Talk” Or “Motherese”) helps in language acquisition.
INFANT DIRECTED SPEECH (“BABY TALK” OR “MOTHERESE”) HELPS IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
The universal speaking style used by caregivers around the world when they address infants is often called ‘‘motherese’’ or ‘‘parentese’’ or “infant–directed speech”. This has been shown to be preferred by infants over adult-directed speech.
When addressing infants, many adults adopt a particular type of speech, known as infant-directed speech (IDS), sometimes referred to as “motherese”, “parentese” or baby-talk. This kind of language seems to be preferred by children over adult-directed speech (ADS). The use of infant-directed-speech has been shown to enhance an infant’s later word recognition.
Infant directed speech (IDS) is characterised by exaggerated intonation, as well as reduced speech rate, shorter utterance duration, and grammatical simplification. In this study, seven and eight-month-old infants’ long-term memory for words was assessed when words were spoken in IDS and adult-directed speech (ADS). Word recognition over the long term was successful for words introduced in IDS. However, this was not the case for those introduced in ADS, regardless of the register in which recognition stimuli were produced.
A longitudinal study of 48 infants aged 9 to 27 months in Scotland also found that children who used baby terms (e.g. reduplication such as "choo-choo” to refer to train), iconicity (“tick tock” to refer to clock) and diminutives (“bunny” to refer to rabbit) tended to have a wider vocabulary and better expressive skills when they were older.
The study showed that the more baby talk words that infants are exposed to and allowed to use, the quicker they grasp language. Assessments of nine-month-old children suggest that those who hear words such as “bunny” or “choo-choo” more frequently are faster at picking up new words between 9 and 21 months.
Studies suggest that infant-directed speech promotes infants' attention to language, fosters social interaction between infants and caregivers, and informs infants about various aspects of their native language by heightening distinctions relative to the speech addressed to adults. New developments focusing on the social role of infant-directed conversations highlight the importance of caregiver responsiveness to infants. Building a communicative foundation prior to the time language emerges is crucial for fostering language development.