The role of baby-talk words in early language development

背景：当成年人与婴儿和幼儿交谈时，他们倾向于调整自己的说话方式。他们说话的速度变慢，音调变高，语调模式变得夸张。他们的句子因为大量的重复而变得更短更简单。这种特定的语域通常被称为“婴儿语”、“母亲语”，或者更专业地说，婴儿导向语。长期以来，研究人员一直在争论这种语言上的改变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，婴儿指向语使学习者更容易理解语言的某些方面。例如，有证据表明，婴儿在慢节奏的讲话中更容易识别单词。婴儿指向语的一个令人困惑的特点是“婴儿语词”的存在，比如“choo-choo”和“tummy”，这些词是专门用于婴儿的。如果孩子们最终要学会“训练”和“胃”，对他们使用意思完全相同的不同单词似乎没有什么帮助。事实上，我们不难在媒体上找到这样的说法：使用“choo-choo”和“tummy”这样的词会阻碍语言发展。在这个项目中，我们将研究使用婴儿语词是否对语言学习有任何抑制或促进作用，然后解释为什么在不同语言和文化的婴儿指向语中发现了婴儿语词。我们的研究重点是BTWs的发音模式：重复的音节（如“choo-choo”），缺乏辅音集群（“tummy”与“stomach”相对），以及重复的发音模式（如“bunny”、“dogggy”、“tummy”、“daddy”的结尾）。具有这些特征的单词可能更容易学习，因此，它们可以作为进一步发展词汇量的跳板。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正的BTWs的单词更容易学习。其次，接触更多双酚类药物的婴儿通常会有更快的词汇发展，至少在最初阶段是这样。为了验证第一个预测，我们将对14到18个月大的婴儿进行一系列基于实验室的实验。他们将看到一些不熟悉的玩具的视频图像，这些玩具的名字都是虚构的。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集群（例如，‘neenee’和‘foofoo’）。另一半将具有非btw类功能（例如，‘proogo’和‘smoday’）。通过跟踪婴儿的眼球运动，我们将能够判断当名字有类似btw的特征时，婴儿是否能更快地学会玩具和他们的名字之间的联系。此外，通过处理两种名字之间的特征，我们将能够确定哪些特征（如音节的重复或缺乏辅音集群）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，每隔3个月，从父母那里收集他们使用真正的BTWs和孩子的接受性和生产性词汇的数据。这将通过记录母亲对孩子的讲话，并让母亲完成一份问卷，其中列出了一系列儿童通常理解或产生的单词。如果BTWs确实帮助婴儿进入单词学习的过程，我们应该发现父母使用BTWs的数量与孩子词汇量的增长之间存在相关性。

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.