The role of baby-talk words in early language development

儿语词汇在早期语言发展中的作用

• 批准号: ES/J023825/1
• 负责人: Mitsuhiko Ota
• 金额: $ 45.49万
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FJ023825%2F1
• 关键词: role; baby; talk; words; early

BACKGROUNDAdults tend to adjust the way they speak when they are talking to babies and young children. Their speech becomes slower, higher in pitch, exaggerated in intonation patterns. Their sentences become shorter and simpler with a lot of repetition. This specific register of speech is commonly known as 'baby talk', 'motherese', or more technically, infant-directed speech. Researchers have long debated whether such modifications in speech play some facilitative role in children's language development. There are indeed some indications that infant-directed speech makes certain aspects of language more accessible to the learner. For instance, it has been demonstrated that infants can identify words more easily in slow-paced speech.One puzzling feature of infant-directed speech is the existence of 'baby-talk words', words such as 'choo-choo' and 'tummy', that are specifically used with babies. If children are ultimately to learn 'train' and 'stomach', using different words to them that mean exactly the same thing does not seem to be helpful. In fact, it is not difficult to find claims made in the media that the use of words such as 'choo-choo' and 'tummy' can hinder language development. In this project, we will examine if using baby-talk words (BTWs) has any inhibitory or facilitative effects on language learning, and then offer an explanation as to why BTWs are found in infant-directed speech across languages and cultures. Our account focuses on the sound patterns that BTWs tend to have: repeated syllables (as in 'choo-choo'), lack of consonant clusters ('tummy' as opposed to 'stomach'), and recurrent sound patterns (as in the endings in 'bunny', 'doggy', 'tummy', 'daddy'). Words with these characteristics may be easier to learn, and as such, serve as a springboard for further vocabulary development. If this is true, we can expect two things. First, infants should find words that sound like real BTWs easier to learn. Second, infants exposed to more BTWs should generally undergo faster vocabulary development at least in the earliest stage.THE STUDIESTo test the first prediction, we will carry out a series of laboratory-based experiments with infants around the age of 14 to 18 months. They will be shown video images of unfamiliar toys with made-up names. Half the names will have BTW-like features, such as repeated syllables and lack of consonant clusters (e.g., 'neenee' and 'foofoo'). The other half will have non-BTW-like features (e.g., 'proogo' and 'smoday'). By tracking the eye movement of the infants, we will be able to tell whether infants can learn the association between the toys and their names faster when the names have BTW-like features. Furthermore, by manipulating the features between the two types of names, we will be able to determine which features (such as the repetition of syllables or the lack of consonant clusters) actually make word learning easier.To test the second prediction, we will collect data from parents on their use of real BTWs and their children's receptive and productive vocabulary at four 3-month intervals starting at 9 months. This will be done by recording the mother's speech addressed to the child and having the mother complete a questionnaire that lists a range of words that are typically understood or produced by young children. If BTWs do help infants break into the process of word learning, we should find a correlation between the amount of BTWs used by parents and the growth of vocabulary in their children.

背景成年人在与婴儿和幼儿交谈时往往会调整他们的说话方式。他们的讲话变得更慢，音调更高，语调模式夸张。他们的句子变得更短，更简单，有很多重复。这种特殊的语言区域通常被称为“婴儿说话”，“母亲”，或者更专业地说，婴儿导向的语言。长期以来，研究人员一直在争论这种言语上的变化是否对儿童的语言发展起到了促进作用。确实有一些迹象表明，婴儿指导的语言使语言的某些方面更容易为学习者所接受。例如，研究表明，婴儿在慢节奏的语言中更容易识别单词，婴儿引导的语言中有一个令人困惑的特点，那就是存在“婴儿谈话词”，比如“宝宝”和“肚子”，这些词专门用于婴儿。如果孩子们最终要学习“训练”和“胃”，对他们使用不同的词，这意味着完全相同的事情似乎没有帮助。事实上，我们不难发现媒体上有这样的说法，即使用“肚子”和“肚子”这样的词会阻碍语言的发展。在这个项目中，我们将检查使用婴儿语（BTW）是否对语言学习有任何抑制或促进作用，然后解释为什么BTW在不同语言和文化的婴儿指导言语中被发现。我们的解释集中在BTW倾向于具有的声音模式上：重复的音节（如“bab-babu”），缺乏辅音群（“tummy”与“tomach”相对），以及重复的声音模式（如“bunny”，“doggy”，“tummy”，“daddy”的结尾）。具有这些特征的单词可能更容易学习，因此，可以作为进一步发展词汇的跳板。如果这是真的，我们可以期待两件事。首先，婴儿应该发现听起来像真实的BTW的单词更容易学习。第二，接触更多BBW的婴儿通常应该经历更快的词汇发展，至少在早期阶段。研究为了验证第一个预测，我们将对14至18个月大的婴儿进行一系列实验室实验。他们将看到一些不熟悉的玩具的视频图像，这些玩具的名字是虚构的。一半的名字会有类似BTW的特征，比如重复的音节和缺乏辅音群（例如，'neenee'和'foofoo'）。另一半将具有非BTW类特征（例如，'proogo'和'smoday'）。通过跟踪婴儿的眼球运动，我们将能够判断婴儿是否能更快地学习玩具和他们的名字之间的联系时，名称具有BTW样的功能。此外，通过操纵这两种名字之间的特征，我们将能够确定哪些特征（如音节的重复或辅音群的缺乏）实际上使单词学习更容易。为了验证第二个预测，我们将从9个月开始，以4个3个月为间隔，收集父母使用真实的BTW的数据以及他们孩子的接受性和产出性词汇。这将通过记录母亲对孩子的讲话并让母亲完成一份问卷来完成，该问卷列出了幼儿通常理解或产生的一系列单词。如果BBW确实有助于婴儿进入单词学习的过程，我们应该找到父母使用BBW的数量与孩子词汇量增长之间的相关性。

项目成果

Reduplication facilitates early word segmentation*

重复有利于早期分词*

• DOI: 10.1017/s0305000916000660
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Journal of Child Language
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Mitsuhiko Ota;B. Skarabela
• 通讯作者: B. Skarabela

Reduplicated Words Are Easier to Learn

重复的单词更容易学习

• DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2016.1165100
• 发表时间: 2016
• 期刊: Language Learning and Development
• 影响因子: 1.5
• 作者: Ota M