News release

From: University of the Sunshine Coast

Baby talk isn’t just cute – it could play a vital role in helping infants learn the sounds of their language, new research from the University of the Sunshine Coast has found.

The study, led by UniSC researcher Dr Varghese Peter, examined if the exaggerated pitch and speech sounds typical of infant-directed speech (IDS) – often called ‘baby talk’ – helps babies to distinguish between vowel sounds.

“Infant-directed speech or ‘baby talk’ refers to the distinct voice and cadence parents use when speaking to babies–raising pitch, exaggerating speech sounds and shortening utterances,” Dr Peter said.

“Previous research has consistently shown that infants prefer to listen to IDS, but whether it has any significance beyond this is under debate.”

To investigate, the team measured brain responses in four-month-old and nine-month-old infants, as well as adults, when they heard vowel sounds spoken in IDS and in adult-directed speech, which is the typical way adults talk

“In adults and in nine-month-old babies, the brain showed a well-known ‘change detection’ signal when it noticed the difference between vowels, regardless of how the speech was produced,” Dr Peter said.

“But the four-month-old babies’ brain responses were different depending on the type of speech.

“When they heard vowels spoken in adult speech, their brains showed a less advanced response. However, when they heard the same vowels spoken in infant-directed speech, their brains produced a more advanced response, similar to that seen in older infants and adults.

“In other words, ‘baby talk’ isn’t silly at all; it may support early language learning from as young as four months of age.”

Dr Peter said this suggests that the exaggerated sounds in ‘baby talk’ may make it easier for infants to tell speech sounds apart, helping them learn the sounds of their language long before they say their first words.