All childrens’ future language development can be determined by the way in which their parents, family and caregivers talk to them during infancy.
Impact Of ‘Parentese’ On Siblings’ Language
On this point, a research group of mothers of twins (one child being deaf) was found to speak vowels more clearly when talking to their infants regardless of hearing, and affecting the family dynamic, according to the Acoustical Society of America.
The researchers found the mothers applied this parentese speaking technique to all children in their family, altering the approach only for adult-directed communication.
Ways To Boost Language Development
How parents talk to and engage with their infants and children – not how much – leads to positive language development, advises a new book, Zero to Five, by Tracy Cutchlow.
Three stand-out tips are named:
- Talk to your baby in a sing-song voice.
- Get one-on-one time to talk and read with your baby.
- Have conversations with the baby about what’s going on, right now.
As the child grows, gradually introduce new words and practice these words to ensure the child’s understanding and knowledge of these new words and their contexts.
The Link Between Spoken Language, And Writing
Some childrens’ future writing difficulties are evident before they can write. Parents and caregivers accordingly need to understand the link between spoken language and writing.
Experts advise families to limit screen time, for this reason. When adults interact with infants incidentally, there’s no learning substitute for facial expressions, tones of voice and body language to benefit the childrens’ early spoken-language development.
