Read the following passage about how parents speak to infants.
'Parentese'
Parentese, the exaggerated, drawn-out form of speech that people use to communicate with babies, apparently is universal and plays a vital role in helping infants to analyse and absorb the phonetic elements of their parents’ language. An international study shows that infants are so good at analysing this speech that by the age of 20 weeks they are beginning to produce the three vowel sounds common to all human languages — “ee,” “ah” and “uu.”
“Parentese has a melody to it. And inside this melody is a tutorial for the baby that contains exceptionally well-formed versions of the building blocks of language,” explains Patricia Kuhl, a University of Washington neuroscientist.
The new study examined differences in how American, Russian and Swedish mothers speak to their infants and to other adults. The study shows that parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words. Mothers in the study were, in effect, sounding out “super-vowels” to help their infants learn the phonetic elements of language.
“In normal, everyday speech adults generally race along at a very fast pace,” Kuhl says. “But we know it is easier to understand a speaker when they stretch out sounds. That’s why we tend to speak more slowly and carefully to increase understanding when we teach in the classroom or talk to strangers. We also do this unconsciously with babies, giving them an improved verbal signal they can capitalise on by slowing down and over articulating.”
(Source: www.washington.edu)
Do the statements below agree with the author's claims?
Write yes, no or not given.
- ‘Parentese’ is not common to all cultures.
- Parents tend to lengthen and over-emphasise certain sounds when speaking to infants.
- Adults are aware that they need to use parentese when speaking to babies.
EFFORTLESS ENGLISH SYSTEM
1/ PRONUNCIATION COURSE
Start Improving Your Pronunciation!
In this course, I promise to help you develop an American accent.
I AM EXCITED TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SUCCESS WITH YOUR ENGLISH SPEAKING! READ MORE
I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO SPEAK WITH AN AMERICAN ACCENT NOW!
JOIN NOW FOR ONLY $49.99
2/ Original English Course
“You Also Want A Powerful, Fast, Complete System For Excellent English Speaking… READ MORE
PLUS A FUN SYSTEM THAT ENTERTAINS. YOU ENJOY SPEAKING CLEARLY & POWERFULLY, WINNING BETTER JOBS, ELIMINATING FEAR, BECOMING AN EXPERT ENGLISH SPEAKER…”
JOIN NOW FOR ONLY $99.00
“DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH? HERE’S HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH FLUENTLY AND AVOID EMBARRASSING MISTAKES IN JUST 1 HOUR A DAY!” READ MORE
JOIN NOW FOR ONLY $99.00
“YOU WILL SPEAK ENGLISH POWERFULLY AND FLUENTLY USING MY EFFORTLESS ENGLISH SYSTEM” READ MORE
JOIN NOW FOR ONLY $99.00
0 Comments