Which method would contribute the most to an infant’s ability to learn language?

Language learning is one of the most remarkable features of early development. Babies seem to learn their native language or languages effortlessly and very rapidly.

The task of learning language, however, is not simple or trivial. In fact, it is one of the most complex cognitive abilities that we develop in our lifetime. So, how do our tiny babies learn language?

When do we start learning language?

While it could be assumed that language learning starts when the baby is born, babies actually begin the learning process while they are still in the womb. The auditory system develops around 6 months after conception, so after then, babies can hear the sounds from their environment. At this time, babies cannot hear specific sounds or words, but they can hear the rhythm and intonation of the speech of their mother and other voices close by, and they are able to use this to tune into the language that they will hear after birth.

Babies’ favourite kind of speech

When adults speak to young infants, they produce a special type of speech known as infant directed speech. It is characterised by exaggerated intonation, warm emotion, and simplified grammar. This is not just a cute and playful way of speaking to our infants – in fact, it is a powerful tool that parents unconsciously use to engage their infants in communication and provide them with the necessary information to learn the sounds and words of their language. Research has shown that infants who hear more infant directed speech (i.e., more words addressed directly to them) develop better language skills.

First words

Infants know many words before they start saying them. By the age of six months, babies can already understand several words (“mum”, “dad”, and their own name), and by 9 months, they understand as many as 50 words. Around their first birthday, babies start saying their first words, which usually refer to the people and objects in their daily environment (the most common first words are of course “mummy” and “daddy”). After that, the baby vocabulary continues to grow, and most toddlers are able to say over 250 words by their second birthday.

How do we know this?

Infancy researchers in the areas of psychology and linguistics investigate the early stages of language development to understand all the steps in this process and its relation to infants’ cognitive and social development. The MARCS Institute BabyLab at Western Sydney University is a world-leader in infancy research. Established in 1999, it hosts numerous research projects focusing on language development, early speech perception, and the precursors of reading skills. Over the years, our research has been able to address questions such as: how does mothers’ speech assist language development? how do infants learn the sounds of their language? how do infants learn the meanings of new words?

We use a variety of state-of-the-art research techniques. All of these are non-invasive and only require the infants to do simple tasks such as watch images on a screen or listen to sounds. All these tasks are conducted in a form of play sessions or games, so all the babies and caretakers visiting the BabyLab can have a good time while contributing to cutting-edge research. After every visit to the lab infants obtain a university degree – so we have some very respected two-year-old emeritus professors among our alumni!

Education  |  News releases  |  Social science

July 17, 2017

UW student Jinnie Yi works with a toddler at one of the participating infant education centers in Madrid.I-LABS

For years, scientists and parents alike have touted the benefits of introducing babies to two languages: Bilingual experience has been shown to improve cognitive abilities, especially problem-solving.

And for infants raised in households where two languages are spoken, that bilingual learning happens almost effortlessly. But how can babies in monolingual households develop such skills?

“As researchers studying early language development, we often hear from parents who are eager to provide their child with an opportunity to learn another language, but can’t afford a nanny from a foreign country and don’t speak a foreign language themselves,” said Naja Ferjan Ramirez, a research scientist at the University of Washington Institute of Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS).

A new study by I-LABS researchers, published July 17 in Mind, Brain, and Education, is among the first to investigate how babies can learn a second language outside of the home. The researchers sought to answer a fundamental question: Can babies be taught a second language if they don’t get foreign language exposure at home, and if so, what kind of foreign language exposure, and how much, is needed to spark that learning?

The researchers took their query all the way to Europe, developing a play-based, intensive, English-language method and curriculum and implementing it in four public infant-education centers in Madrid, Spain. Sixteen UW undergraduates and recent graduates served as tutors for the study, undergoing two weeks of training at I-LABS to learn the teaching method and curriculum before traveling to Spain. The country’s extensive public education system enabled the researchers to enroll 280 infants and children from families of varying income levels.

Based on years of I-LABS research on infant brain and language development, the method emphasizes social interaction, play, and high quality and quantity of language from the teachers. The approach uses “infant-directed speech” — often called “parentese” — the speech style parents use to talk to their babies, which has simpler grammar, higher and exaggerated pitch, and drawn-out vowels.

“Our research shows that parentese helps babies learn language,” Ferjan Ramirez said.

Babies aged 7 to 33.5 months were given one hour of English sessions a day for 18 weeks, while a control group received the Madrid schools’ standard bilingual program. Both groups of children were tested in Spanish and English at the start and end of the 18 weeks. The children also wore special vests outfitted with lightweight recorders that recorded their English learning. The recordings were analyzed to determine how many English words and phrases each child spoke.

An infant takes a look at a picture during a session with UW student Anna Kunz.I-LABS

The children who received the UW method showed rapid increases in English comprehension and production, and significantly outperformed the control group peers at all ages on all tests of English. By the end of the 18-week program, the children in the UW program produced an average of 74 English words or phrases per child, per hour; children in the control group produced 13 English words or phrases per child, per hour.

Ferjan Ramirez said the findings show that even babies from monolingual homes can develop bilingual abilities at this early age.

“With the right science-based approach that combines the features known to grow children’s language, it is possible to give very young children the opportunity to start learning a second language, with only one hour of play per day in an early education setting,” she said. “This has big implications for how we think about foreign-language learning.”

Follow-up testing 18 weeks later showed the children had retained what they learned. The English gains were similar between children attending the two schools serving predominantly low-income neighborhoods and the two serving mid-income areas, suggesting that wealth was not a significant factor in the infants’ ability to learn a foreign language. Children’s native language (Spanish) continued to grow as they were learning English, and was not negatively affected by introducing a second language.

“Science indicates that babies’ brains are the best learning machines ever created, and that infants’ learning is time-sensitive. Their brains will never be better at learning a second language than they are between 0 and 3 years of age,” said co-author Patricia Kuhl, co-director of I-LABS and a UW professor of speech and hearing sciences.

The results, Kuhl said, have the potential to transform how early language instruction is approached in the United States and worldwide:

“Parents in Madrid, in the United States and around the world are eager to provide their children with an opportunity to learn a foreign language early. The U.S. census shows that 27 percent of America’s children under the age of 6 are now learning a language other than English at home. While these children are fully capable of learning both their parents’ language and English, they often do not have adequate exposure to English prior to kindergarten entry and as a result, often lag behind their peers once they enter school,” she said.

“I-LABS’ new work shows we can create an early bilingual learning environment for dual-language learners in an educational setting, and in one hour per day, infants can ignite the learning of a second language earlier and much easier than we previously thought. This is doable for everybody,” Kuhl said.

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For more information, contact Ferjan Ramirez at or 206-747-7850 and Kuhl at or 206-685-1921.

The study was supported by the Madrid Regional Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and the UW I-LABS Ready Mind Project.

The UW method emphasized playful social interaction and active child participation. Here, UW student Martin Horst plays with the children.I-LABS