Previous investigations detailed that babies only start learning how to decipher and reproduce speech sounds at between 6 and 12 months. Now experts say it could be much earlier and the impacts on language acquisition could be huge.
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00:00Babies might be associated with, well, baby talk, but a new study outlines that despite
00:08our inclination to take things slow with infants, they are much more capable much earlier than
00:12previously believed.
00:14Previous investigations detailed that babies only start learning how to decipher and reproduce
00:18speech sounds at between 6 and 12 months.
00:21Now experts say it could begin as early as 4.
00:24The study used two artificial mini-languages.
00:26They utilized both lip-based and tongue-tipped sounds pairing both with cartoon images.
00:31When later shown silent videos of people speaking new words, babies looked longer at videos
00:35where mouth movements matched their learned patterns.
00:37The researchers say this proved they are actively connecting sound and sight.
00:41Adding that this suggests babies begin processing speech mechanics before they refine their
00:45ability to recognize native language sounds.
00:48This could prove to impact language teaching for kids, detecting and intervening on delayed
00:52speech and language abilities.
00:54Researchers say the next step will include experiments to figure out whether infants
00:57can detect other speech properties and how bilingual environments influence early language
01:02learning.