Do you use baby talk on young kids? While some adults might be annoyed by this, a recent study has revealed that it might actually be helpful for toddlers in their learning of language or honing their vocabulary skills. So, what do the experts have to say about baby talk?
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh published their findings in the Language Learning and Development journal. They discovered that babies are able to catch on to language better when it's uttered in repeated syllables. For instance, when a parent says, "Good nighty-night!" at bedtime, instead of just simply "good night," the baby will tend to remember this and grasp the concept of the language better.
The researchers conducted their study using visual presentations of two objects, which were tagged with made-up names. One had repeated syllables, such as "neenee," while the other was simply called "bolay." The infants were then made to listen to a recorded voice saying these words and the researchers saw that their eye movements tend to draw more on the object with repeated syllables, per Science Daily.
Baby Talk: Words With Repeated Sounds Help Infants Learn Language https://t.co/Ih8Gbghrpk #psychology #science pic.twitter.com/dygbPQXZGR
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"This is the first evidence to show that infants have a repetition bias in learning new words," said Mitsuhiko Ota, the lead researcher of the study, per Siasat. The experts believe that baby talk is actually a good starting point to teaching vocabulary and language in young children.
It might also explain why adults, regardless of culture, use baby talk when conversing with their babies because they respond to this better. So, it's common to hear parents use words like "dada" for Daddy or "tum tum" for tummy or stomach when talking to kids.
Other studies in relation to music, vision and behavior have shown that babies tend to learn better with patterns and repetition. This research implies that the same is also true for learning words.
