“Infants exposed to parentese were able to produce about 27% of typical adult words in comparison to the infants not exposed to parentese who were able to produce on average about 14% of typical adult words”

Researchers at the University of Washington recently conducted a study on infant language development. Most of us can imagine a moment when someone was talking to a baby in a high pitched, shrilly voice while simultaneously making up their own imaginary words and speaking patterns. You probably viewed this as strange, but this strange talk has a name called parentese. I will say parentese is a bit more complicated than your typical “baby talk”, however, it is rather similar. Parentese differs in that it promotes specific aspects that are especially helpful in infant language development, such as conversational exchanges and vocalization. Moral of the story is, parentese is a more complex extension of “baby talk”. Unbeknownst to many, there is scientific evidence that supports the idea that parentese is beneficial to a baby’s language development. Researchers dedicated time to investigate the impact of parentese on infant language development so that the public can be more informed about what they can do to help with overall infant development for their own children.

The study consisted of families that included a typically developing 6-month-old infant. There were no stipulations on socioeconomic status as this is a variable that could impact the results of the study and should be acknowledged. Each family was assigned to either the parentese usage or no parentese usage group. Researchers subjected each family to the appropriate conditions over a 12-month duration of the infant’s life.

Words

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When the infant turned 18-months old, researchers collected data based on 4 different aspects of a child’s language development. First, they measured each child’s talkativeness based on the percentage of time they spent “babbling.” Next, they estimated the number of adult words used by the child during any given 12-hour period. Third, they evaluated the child’s conversational turn count, which describes the back and forth exchanges between a child and an adult. Finally, they estimated the child’s vocalization count, which describes the speech related vocalization of a child.

The results were quite fascinating and informative. The infants of the parents who practiced parentese had greater language development over the 12-month period.

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It was discovered that parentese allowed the infants to engage in conversational turns with their parent and this aspect aided in the child’s language development. In addition, the infants exposed to parentese produced more words by the time they turned 18-months. Infants exposed to parentese were able to produce about 27% of typical adult words in comparison to the infants not exposed to parentese who were able to produce on average about 14% of typical adult words. These results were deemed statistically significant.

It is important to acknowledge that there are other variables that may have contributed to these findings. Researchers attempted to account for these additional variables, however, not all variables can be controlled. Regardless, researchers were able to provide enough valid scientific support to say that parentese has a positive impact on infant language development. Whether you already have an infant, are preparing to have an infant, or want an infant in the future, remember that the strange “baby talk” you hear all the time may make all the difference in your child’s language development.

Ramírez, N.F., Lytle, S.R., and Kuhl, P.K. 2019. Parent coaching increases conversational turns and advances infant language development. PNAS.