Have you ever wondered how infants go from communicating via crying, to nonsensical noises, to single syllables, and eventually to words? Well, it turns out infants’ language learning is linked to being able to move their tongue when hearing the sounds: tongue movement isn’t just necessary for *making* speech sounds– it also helps babies *understand* […]
Browsing Tag: language learning
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Can Babies Learn Language Before They are Born?
Have you ever heard of parents putting headphones on their bellies during pregnancy so their baby can listen to music before they’re born? That’s because babies usually start being able to hear during the third trimester. We also know that babies start to develop language at a very young age, and as more research is […]
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Tuning in and out: language learning and processing with a noisy background
It feels like there are always so many things happening at once. This is especially true when it comes to noise. Even when sitting at your desk, there may be an air conditioner blowing, water dripping in a bathroom nearby, your colleague talking to you, and a background conversation. So, how exactly does our brain […]
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Before babies can learn what a word means, they have to know what it sounds like.
What is wordform recognition? Before they can even consider learning what words mean, infants need to be able to recognize the consistent way that words sound, even though the same word can sound super different each time it’s said! Take a listen to this audio recording of all the times a baby heard other people […]
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How do we process language as we see or hear it? You can predict the future (a little bit)!
Language Processing Models: Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Bottom-up pathways rely on data as it comes in. These models process information by building up a larger meaning step-by-step from basic units, kind of like climbing up a staircase. For example, if you used a bottom-up method while reading, your eyes would transmit each individual letter to your […]
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Kids tend to slice up the world into whole objects while they’re learning word meanings.
Scientists think that children have a “toolkit” that helps them make a guess about a new word’s meaning. That toolkit has strategies like shape bias and mutual exclusivity. Shape bias means that children are more likely to extend the meaning of a word to new objects that have similar shapes than they are to objects that […]
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Can babies learn more than one language from birth? Yes, no problem!
Multilingualism in childhood: Developing the ability to communicate proficiently in more than one language Multilingual children regularly hear more than one language and develop multiple systems of communication to engage with and learn about the world around them. These kids take a little bit longer than monolingual children to become proficient since they are building […]
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What’s the difference between sign languages and verbal languages? Their modality!
Both sign language and verbal (also referred to as spoken) language are full forms of language (full stop!). They just use different forms of physical expression, known as modalities. Verbal language involves the oral-auditory modality, which is based on the sounds that humans can produce with their vocal tracts and understand with their hearing. Sign […]
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Why is it more difficult for adults to learn new languages than it is for kids?
Children seem to be able to pick up languages naturally from a very young age, so why is it different for adults to learn a new language? Researchers think that infancy is a critical period for language development. A critical period is a specific time span during development where children are especially sensitive to their […]