ZERO TO THREE BrainWonders - The Diigo Meta page

• 26 Nov 06
  

  Christina ren

  baby

  • Reading   to a newborn infant is the best way to help a child learn to read in the future.

     

    False

     
     
    • It is important to recognize   that what is most important is providing a language-rich environment for children.   Reading is one way, but there are many other ways as well, such as talking,   singing, listening to music.
     
    • There are a number of   studies that show that when children hear a good deal of "live" language,   when they are spoken to often and encouraged to communicate, they are more   proficient with language than children who have more limited language exposure.   For example, Janellan Huttenlocher, University of Chicago, found that at 20   months of age children of "chatty" moms averaged 131 more words than kids   of "non-chatty" moms and by age two the gap had increased to a difference   of 295 words. Only live language, not television, produced these vocabulary-boosting   effects (Begley, 1997).

  • Babies   are born with the ability to learn all the languages in the world.

     

    True

     
     
    • The infant brain is "wired"   to seek out and learn language.
     
    • Amazingly, infants are   born with the capacity not just to learn language, but to learn all languages.   As researcher Patricia Kuhl from the University of Washington puts it, infants   are "citizens of the world." They are able to perceive the different sounds   and patterns of speech of all languages in the world. For example, at birth,   Japanese babies can hear the distinction between "r" and "l", although only   the "r" sound exists in Japanese. They can still hear the distinction at 6   months of age, but cannot by 12 months of age.
     
    • Even in the womb, the   infant is turning towards the melody of its mother's voice. The brain is setting   up the circuitry needed to understand and reproduce language.
     
    • Babies learn to talk   by hearing language and having language directed at them in "conversation."
       
     
    • Between 6-12 months,   babies begin to fine-tune their ability to perceive the speech sounds of their   native language as opposed to non-native language.

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