Um Er Ar?

A new piece of research suggests that parents who have a tendency to fumble and stumble over their words may actually be helping their children acquire language.

The Independent reports on a study from the University of Rochester (USA). You can find the newspaper article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/parents-who-stumble-over-words-may-help-children-learn-language-2268089.html

Research has demonstrated in previous years that the quantity of speech infants are exposed to will impact upon their language acquisition. For example, a child who is exposed to infrequent conversation will acquire language more slowly than a child who is exposed to frequent conversation. This new study suggests that quality of speech input is also relevant to a child’s language acquisition.

The researchers have found that infants paid more attention to new or unknown words when a speech ‘stumble’ or brief pause preceded the word. They studied infants who were watching a pair of images on a screen. One of the images was of a familiar object (a ball or book) and one of an unfamiliar one with a made-up name (such as a “dax” or “gorp”). A recorded voice talked about the objects and when it ‘stumbled’ or paused the children were more likely to look at the made-up image than the familiar one – almost 70 per cent of the time. This was only apparent in children over the age of 2; younger children were not able to associate the stumble with an unknown or new word.

In effect, the ‘stumble’ acts as an accidental primer for the infants – to warn them that an important piece of information is coming up. It also gives the child extra time to process what has previously been said and absorb everything that’s going on. If a child is paying more attention to a word they don’t know the meaning of, they’re more likely to remember and learn it.

The authors are clear that they are not advocating the use of overt and deliberate stumbles, pauses and hesitations in parental speech. However they state that it may be nice for parents to know that any natural pauses and stumbles are actually of benefit to their children.

Sarah Bennington April 2011

Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. ITS is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.

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