Language Duet
The other day I read by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff. The premise of their piece is that merely talking at babies and toddlers isn’t what matters. Instead, parents should engage their children in conversation — what the authors describe as a language duet.
The other day I read “Talk ‘with’ not just ‘at’ your child” in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff. The premise of their piece is that merely talking at babies and toddlers isn’t what matters. Instead, parents should engage their children in conversation — what the authors describe as a language duet.
Later that day, I had the chance to speak to Dr. Hirsh-Pasek on the phone to learn more about her take on the language quality vs. quantity debate. Her bottom line is that young children show the greatest cognitive and linguistic gains when they are engaged in a conversation, rather than simply being on the receiving end of a constant stream of words.
This is why watching TV doesn’t count toward the language quality factor Dr. Hirsh-Pasek highlights — our brains turn off when we watch it. I have to stand in front of Olivia to snap her out of a trance if I want to get her attention when she’s watching an episode of She-Ra or Strawberry Shortcake.
This is also why FaceTime and Skype do count. When a child engages with someone else — even if through an electronic screen — their brain is firing in the same way as if they were having a conversation in person. The same Olivia who turns into a zombie-toddler when watching TV is fully present when talking to Grandma on FaceTime. She even kisses the screen of the iPad goodbye at the end of the conversation because it’s the real thing to her.
Which takes me back to the concept of the language duet. It’s what adults call a conversation. But how can you have a conversation with a baby who isn’t talking? It’s not as easy or natural, but talking about whatever you happen to be doing (cooking dinner, driving to the store, reading a book, etc), reacting to a baby’s babbles as if they were real words, and making frequent eye contact are all okay.
Just remember, the more often you talk with your baby the sooner he’ll start talking back. In other words, he’ll “get smarter faster” to borrow a phrase from Anne Fernald of Stanford’s Center for Infant Studies.
A special thanks to Dr Hirsh-Pasek for taking the time to speak with me. All credit for this post goes to her, Dr Roberta Golinkoff, and their respective teams of researchers. Thank you!
This piece was originally posted at VersaMe.com. VersaMe created the Starling the world’s first wearable engagement tracker that helps encourage and reinforce positive parenting behaviors.
