New Research on Enhancing Your Baby’s Language Development

A recent study published in the journal Infancy found that babies’ ability to match speech to faces predicted their future language abilities.

The study followed 103 children from age three months to three years and tracked their language development and intersensory processing skills (translation: matching sight and sound). These skills develop within the first six months of life, and so researchers tested three- and six-month-old infants on their intersensory processing to identify early differences that contribute to language development. The study tested social intersensory processing by showing infants videos of six different women speaking (see below) while one dialogue track played, and measured infants’ accuracy at focusing on the video that matched the dialogue.

Source: Edgar, Todd, & Bahrick, 2023

The study found that higher accuracy at matching speakers to speech at six months was correlated with larger vocabularies at ages 18, 24, and 36 months, and more speech at ages 18 and 24 months. This correlation wasn’t found for three-month-olds, but the task may have been too difficult to properly measure intersensory processing in younger infants.

Researchers suggested that being more advanced in this skill by six months helped infants get more out of language learning opportunities, as they could pay attention to more complex language clues like facial expressions or tone. The face-voice matching test might also reflect infants’ ability to focus on a speaker and paying better attention to speech also gives infants more opportunities to learn.

The study also tested non-social intersensory processing (translation: matching a sound and a sight in a non-social context) through the same method, but played videos and sounds of toys being shaken, instead of people talking, and found that this was not correlated with language development. This finding suggests that the ability to match mouth shapes to speech is especially important for language development.

An important limitation of this research is that it is correlational research, meaning we do not know whether intersensory processing actually improves language or is simply related to better language. Although the researchers found that intersensory processing was a predictor of language development even after accounting for other important predictors like parental socioeconomic status, there could be other variables that they didn’t account for that might explain this relationship.

However, these findings are notable since they suggest that developing intersensory processing in infants may help their language development. Identifying new factors that influence language development can inform the development of more effective interventions for language delays in infants.

What This Means

Infants who are better at connecting speech to speakers show more advanced language development as much as two and a half years later. This research serves as a reminder that there are many factors that influence language development. While we need more research on how to improve intersensory processing in infants, here are some tips that might help:

• Use baby talk! Baby talk, or “parentese,” helps babies make intersensory connections by using repetition and exaggeration of tone and facial expression. It also holds infants’ attention better than adult-directed speech, which is another trait associated with successful intersensory processing.

• Engage multiple senses at once. Move objects around when you talk about them, or describe textures and sensations as your baby touches something. This makes it easier for your baby to connect words and meanings.

• Get on your baby’s level and make eye contact whenever talking to your baby. This face-to-face interaction will help your baby to link eye, mouth, and face movements with speech sounds.

• Seek professional help through early intervention if your child’s language seems delayed. Do not blame yourself if your child is delayed because many factors contribute to language learning and it happens along a spectrum.