Toddler Talkies!

There is a wealth of evidence regarding phonemic awareness and risk, as well as the baby brain’s plasticity.

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Infants show remarkable sensitivity to the sounds of language from a very early age, and this attunement plays a crucial role in the development of their linguistic abilities. The evidence detailing how infants are in tune with the sounds of language covers various aspects, including their preference for speech sounds over non-speech sounds, their ability to discriminate between phonemes, and their sensitivity to the rhythmic and intonational patterns of their native language. Here are some key findings from research in this area:

 

Here are some key findings from research in this area:

Preference for Speech Sounds: New-borns demonstrate a preference for speech sounds over non-speech sounds. This preference suggests that humans have an innate readiness to process language. For instance, studies have shown that infants prefer listening to their mother's voice and can even distinguish between the sound of their native language and a foreign language. 

Discrimination of Phonemes: Infants can discriminate between different phonetic elements from a very early age. Research indicates that babies as young as 1 to 4 months old can hear the difference between phonemes that adults in different linguistic communities might find challenging to distinguish. This ability is universal across languages, indicating a predisposition for language discrimination. 

Sensitivity to Prosody: Infants are sensitive to the rhythmic and intonational patterns (prosody) of speech. This sensitivity helps them to segment speech into meaningful units, such as words and phrases, even before they understand the words themselves. For example, infants show a preference for the prosodic patterns of their native language over those of foreign languages. 

Statistical Learning: Babies are adept at statistical learning, the ability to detect patterns and regularities in the speech they hear. Through exposure to speech, infants learn about the likelihood of certain sounds occurring together, which plays a crucial role in their acquisition of language structure. 

Early Bilingualism: Research on bilingual infants demonstrates that even very young babies can differentiate between two languages, suggesting a highly attuned mechanism for language discrimination. Bilingual infants are also able to keep the phonetic details of each language separate, which supports their development in both languages simultaneously. 

The evidence collectively underscores the importance of early exposure to language and the innate capacities infants possess for processing linguistic sounds. These foundational abilities facilitate the acquisition of language, highlighting the critical period in early childhood for language development.