How Baby Talk Helps a Baby's Language Development

Adults speak to babies in a distinctive way in all cultures, in baby talk. In some ways, baby talk cannot be helped, some adults are not even aware they are speaking differently with a baby. The face of a baby appears to inspire adults to speak in a slow, high pitched, singsong voice. In a different context, in which a baby is not involved, it often sounds silly and out of place. It is not the voice that adults generally use with other adults. Why is that that we as adults distinctively use baby talk with babies?

One might be tempted to say that it is a cultural phenomenon. After all, we see other people coo-chi coo-chi coo-ing to their babies, and we were also coo-chi-ed at when we were babies. Perhaps using baby talk is a latent memory of our own early days as babies.

These are all possible theories, however, some clever social scientists have found reasons to suspect that we are, in essence, programmed to engage babies in baby talk because it helps them to develop their own language skills.

Babies are fascinating people. They are born with the ability to soak up knowledge like a sponge. They have an innate ability to watch, listen, and imitate the people around them. Yet, if you watch the preference of a baby in the crib, they will pay more attention to the person speaking in baby talk than the person speaking in a normal voice. Why is that? Do they prefer the voice of the mother and the caretakers, the people who will speak the most baby talk?

Tests have shown that babies not only prefer baby talk, but they prefer any kind of baby talk to a regular voice. Baby talk in French or any other foreign languages will be preferred over the normal voice of the mother. We can then deduct that they like to listen to the certain pitch and tone that comes with baby talk of all languages. Why the preference? Babies are not susceptible to cultural phenomenon just yet, and baby talk is distinctive different than how adults interact with each other.

As it turns out, baby talk is not just the way we happen to speak to babies, but it is a mechanism of helping babies learn language. Analysis of baby talk shows that the vowels are lengthened, and speech is slowed down, and more articulated. It is an exaggeration of adult speech. What appears to be an unconscious effort is actually a lesson plan in language. Even mouth movements are exaggerated for the baby's benefit. One would press their lips more tightly together to say "baaaaaaaaaaall" to a baby. In fact, when the full length baby talk is written down, it has the look of a grammar lesson, repetitive, but varied by description and structure: "Look at the ball, look at the bouncing ball, look at the pretty bouncing ball".

As silly as it may sound, baby talk has all the important components of language. It is an important part of a baby's language development skills because it provides them what normal adult speech lacks, a methodical way of providing the basic building blocks of language. So baby talk is not just an unconscious effect of babies on adults, but rather, the unconscious way people teach babies how to use language.