13.3.4: Strategies that Support Language Development-Infant-Directed Speech

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Todd LaMarr

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Infant-Directed Speech

When caregivers interact with infants, their speech often takes on specific, distinguishing features in a speech register known as infant-directed speech (Ferjan Ramírez, 2022; Fernald et al., 1989). Infant-directed speech is produced by caregivers of most (although not all) linguistic and cultural backgrounds and is typically characterized by a slow, melodic, high-pitched, and exaggerated cadence (Farran, Lee, Yoo & Oller, 2016; Fernald et al., 1989; Kitamura, Thanavishuth, Burnham & Luksaneeyanawin, 2001; Pye, 1986; Shute & Wheldall, 1999). From early in life, infants tune their attention to infant-directed speech, preferring to listen to infant-directed speech over adult-directed speech at birth (Cooper & Aslin, 1990), as well as later in infancy (Cooper & Aslin, 1994; Cooper, Abraham, Berman & Staska, 1997; Fernald, 1985; Hayashi, Tamekawa & Kiritani, 2001; Kitamura & Lam, 2009; ManyBabies Consortium, 2020; Newman & Hussain, 2006; Pegg, Werker & McLeod, 1992; Santesso, Schmidt & Trainor, 2007; Singh, Morgan & Best, 2002). ^{^[1]}

Infants’ preference for infant-directed speech may play a useful role in early language learning. For example, infants are better able to discriminate speech sounds in infant-directed speech than in adult-directed speech (Karzon, 1985; Trainor & Desjardins, 2002), more efficiently segment words from continuous speech in an infant-directed speech register (Thiessen, Hill & Saffran, 2005), demonstrate better long-term memory for words spoken in infant-directed speech (Singh, Nestor, Parikh & Yull, 2009), and learn new words more effectively from infant-directed speech (Graf Estes & Hurley, 2013; Ma, Golinkoff, Houston & Hirsh-Pasek, 2011). Overall amount of infant-directed speech in everyday speech input between 7 to 11 months is positively correlated with language outcomes at five years of age (Weisleder & Fernald, 2013), and amount of infant-directed speech in a one-on-one setting between 11 and 14 months of age is correlated with productive vocabulary at 24 months (Ramírez-Esparza, García-Sierra & Kuhl, 2014; 2017a) as well as word production at 33 months (Ramírez-Esparza et al., 2017b). ^{^[2]} ^{^[3]}

^{^[1]} Byers-Heinlein et al., (2021). A multilab study of bilingual infants: Exploring the preference for infant-directed speech. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1), 2515245920974622. CC by 4.0

^{^[2]} Byers-Heinlein et al., (2021). A multilab study of bilingual infants: Exploring the preference for infant-directed speech. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1), 2515245920974622. CC by 4.0

^{^[3]} Marklund et al., (2021). Relationship between parents’ vowel hyperarticulation in infant-directed speech and infants’ phonetic complexity on the level of conversational turns. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 2712. CC by 4.0