The Stages of Early Human Language Development
The Unique Capacity for Spoken Word
Only human babies possess the innate capacity to communicate through the spoken word.
The first two years are a journey of communication exploration.
Even before uttering words, babies engage in communication experiments like cooing and babbling, gesturing, listening, and imitating.
Prenatal Language Acquisition
Language learning begins long before birth, in the mother's womb.
The fetus experiences various sensations, with the sense of hearing being particularly rich.
By 24 weeks of gestation, the fetus's inner ear is developed and can hear sounds.
Sounds include the mother's heartbeat and sounds from the outside world.
The mother's voice is the loudest sound heard, even louder than the background noise of the uterus.
Over several months, the fetus becomes familiar with the voices of both parents.
Research shows that the melody and rhythms of parental speech make the fetal heart beat faster, marking the beginning of ongoing communication.
Early Postnatal Communication
Newborns are ready to communicate from birth.
Crying is their primary communication method, eliciting an immediate response.
Crying is an involuntary signal of distress.
Newborns have small mouths, large tongues, and a high larynx (preventing choking), limiting other sounds.
Despite cries being involuntary, mothers respond, giving meaning to these early vocalizations.
Research indicates that from the first days of life, babies universally prefer the human voice over all other sounds.
They are surprisingly attuned to language.
Native Language Preference Experiment (Werker & Burns)
Subjects: 12-hour-old Marissa, born to English-speaking parents, heard English in the womb.
Methodology: A pacifier connected to a computer recorded the frequency and intensity of her sucking.
Stimuli: Tapes with English and Tagalog (a Philippine language) were played. Words were filtered out, leaving only the cadences of the languages.
Observations: Marissa showed a weak response to Tagalog, a language she had never heard.
When English (her native language) was played, the intensity and frequency of her sucking dramatically increased.
Upon switching back to Tagalog, her sucking diminished.
Conclusions: This experiment revealed two key facts:
Baby humans begin to learn language properties while still in the womb.
At birth, they prefer the rhythms of their native language over unfamiliar ones.
Sound Distinction and Early Listening
By six weeks old, infants like Rebecca spend time listening and absorbing sounds, learning to differentiate between environmental noises (e.g., a spoon clinking vs. a cough vs. a bird).
From birth, human babies possess a remarkable ability to distinguish the intricate sounds of speech, a unique communication vehicle that sets humans apart from all other animals.
This exceptional capacity is present from the moment they enter the world.
Distinguishing Parts of Speech Experiment (Ruth Shen)
Subjects: Nelson, less than 24 hours old, who heard English during his nine months in the womb.
Methodology: A pacifier hooked to a computer registered the frequency and intensity of his response.
Stimuli: Two lists of words:
Prepositions and articles (e.g.,