New research has shown baby talk is more effective than regular speech at increasing a child’s vocabulary.
Parents are often told that the more words their baby hears, the quicker they will learn.
However, new findings show that early language development is spurred on by the style of speech and the social context where speech occurs, rather than the amount of words used.
Researchers at the University of Washington and University of Connecticut examined thousands of 30-second snippets of verbal exchanges between parents and babies.
Study co-author Dr Patricia Juhl, of the University of Washington’s Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences, said: ‘What our analysis shows is that the prevalence of baby talk in one-on-one conversations with children is linked to better language development, both concurrent and future.’
Speaking in ‘baby-talk’ to you child may be more beneficial than you thought
Parents raising their voices and exaggerating vowels also proved productive as did speaking to the child alone, rather than in the presence of other adults or children.
Dr Kuhl said: ‘The fact that the infant’s babbling itself plays a role in future language development shows how important the interchange between parent and child is.’
Co-author Nairan Rammrez-Esparza added that, ‘Parentese (baby talk) is much better at developing language than regular speech, and even better if it occurs in a one-on-one interaction.’
