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Even before language emerges, responding to children’s vocalizations or actions soon after they are produced builds a communication foundation that lays the groundwork for language.
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When an infant or young child babbles, gestures, or cries, and an adult responds with eye contact, words, or a hug, connections are made and strengthened in the child’s brain that support the development of communication and social skills. The back and forth interaction is critical. It’s called “serve and return”.
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Children who experience more conversational turns show greater activation in left inferior frontal regions (Broca’s area) during language processing, which explained nearly half the relationship between children’s language exposure and verbal abilities.
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The researchers found that the number of conversational turns correlated strongly with the children’s scores on standardized tests of language skill, including vocabulary, grammar, and verbal reasoning.
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The quality of the interactions between parents and their children, measured with gesture and speech, is associated with advanced language development
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The more words that adults speak to children, the better language skills children develop.
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One encounter with a new word is not enough to support word learning. Children often need to hear words many times before learning them.
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Repeated and varied exposure to unfamiliar words, along with the meaningful contexts, helps children learn new words.
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Language directed to a child, as opposed to language overheard by a child, predicts to later vocabulary.
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High quality early language experiences are characterized by adults and children engaging in “conversational duets”.
