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Babies Prove Sound Learners

Babies are able to learn language skills like recognizing sounds before they can speak. Scientists have found that babies can learn any human language much more easily than adults due to their flexible brains. Babies can recognize all possible sounds used across languages until around age 6 months. However, their brains then start to specialize in the particular sounds used in the native language they are learning. Understanding how babies learn language could help people who have learning disabilities or want to learn a new language as an older child or adult.

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Imane Dahhane
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406 views1 page

Babies Prove Sound Learners

Babies are able to learn language skills like recognizing sounds before they can speak. Scientists have found that babies can learn any human language much more easily than adults due to their flexible brains. Babies can recognize all possible sounds used across languages until around age 6 months. However, their brains then start to specialize in the particular sounds used in the native language they are learning. Understanding how babies learn language could help people who have learning disabilities or want to learn a new language as an older child or adult.

Uploaded by

Imane Dahhane
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“ Babies Prove Sound Learners ”

In the article “Babies Prove Sound Learners “ the writer discusses Recent research shows
that babies develop language skills long before speaking, and learn any language, even fake ones,
quickly compared to adults, despite the difficulty of learning new languages as adults. Scientists are
exploring how young children learn grammatical rules and sounds for communication, which could
aid learning disabilities, adults, and researchers designing computers that communicate like humans.
Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences,
says so. Scientists now understand that babies begin life with language learning abilities, mastering
specific languages through interaction and listening/watching skills, despite decades of debate on
how young children learn language. Babies' flexible brains enable them to learn a lot, with research
showing that they can recognize all sounds in all languages up to six months of age. This readiness to
learn any language makes them 'citizens of the world', according to experimental psychologist
Rebecca Gomez. Languages worldwide consist of 6,000 sounds, but not all use every sound. For
example, Swedish uses 16 vowel sounds, English uses eight, and Japanese uses five. Adults can only
hear sounds in their native languages. At six months, babies' brains focus on common sounds,
responding to language sounds they hear most. As they grow older, they recognize patterns in their
native language, such as understanding verbs as action words. Scientists study the brains of fluent
speakers, as language acquisition is difficult after age seven. Studies show that children's brains form
different pathways for each language, but it becomes harder to form new ones after age seven. Baby
studies suggest that language learning is more effective for teenagers and adults when they talk to
native speakers rather than relying on educational CDs and DVDs. Infants' brains light up with
electrical activity when they hear foreign language sounds, but learning doesn't occur.

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