How Children Learn Language Aboriginal Languages in the Home Workshop May 14 – 15, 2014 Sponsored by the NWT Literacy Council

Babies are born learning The brain grows more during the first three years than at any other time.

Babies are born learning We are born with about 100 billion brain cells, including millions that will control language. The brain grows by making connections between its cells.

Making connections Every experience = A connection in the brain The connections form “pathways” in the brain The foundation for life-long learning and wellness

Making connections By age 3, the brain has made about 1000 trillion connections. That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! The baby’s brain will keep the connections it uses most often. “Use it or lose it.”

Windows of opportunity The brain has "prime times" for learning certain things. "windows of opportunity" that open and close during the first few years of life when the brain is ready to receive specific kinds of information from the senses when we're able to learn particular skills and knowledge more easily than at any other time in our life

Windows of opportunity Each stage is a foundation for the next one.

It’s never too early to talk to a baby! Babies begin learning language as soon as they are born (and probably before). By the time they begin to speak, children already know a lot about the language(s) they’ve heard.

Babies are born global citizens Babies are born with the ability to make the sounds of every language in the world.

Infants learn language by hearing it At birth, the brain is ready to learn any language(s) the baby hears. Babies babble in and learn the language(s) they hear. Brain connections grow strong for these languages. Connections for other languages eventually grow weak from lack of use.

The timing of language learning 4 months: The brain responds to every sound from any language. 6 months: The baby starts losing the ability to “hear” all sounds. The brain begins to “prefer” the language(s) the baby hears most often. 10 months: Baby can distinguish and make sounds in own language(s), pays less attention to foreign sounds.

Earlier is better because earlier is easier. 12 months: Baby can identify meaningful sounds, hear differences between sounds and words in home language(s). 4 years: The basic capability for language is often set. 10 years: Most of the brain’s connections for language are formed. After age 10, learning a new language is usually harder.

What research tells us Talk to your baby! The key to building language and vocabulary skills The earlier, the better Quality matters: rich, varied language; real sentences

The more babies are spoken to… …the faster they learn to identify sounds in their home language(s). … the easier it will be later to master more complex language skills—such as reading.

“Parentese” Why? A natural and instinctive way to talk to infants Sing-song tone; exaggerated words and facial expressions; long sounds; slow and clear Used in languages and cultures around the world Why?

“Parentese” Babies like it! Babies respond to “parentese”. It helps the baby tune into language.

Talking is teaching!

Talking is teaching Television is not “We can’t teach them language by putting them in front of a video or a TV. But we can teach children language by reading to them, talking with them, singing to them.” Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. “The Meaning in Words”

Read! Talk! Sing! A child’s brain needs interaction with a person to attach meaning to words.

Language is born in relationship The core of language is communication. Language exists to help people communicate.

Talk to your baby! Children learn language from the people who speak to them.

Language is born in relationship “An infant who heard spoken words only from a radio would never really come to understand language.” Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. “The Meaning in Words”

Children learn meaning from connections and context Talking, singing, and reading TO the child Long sentences “Let’s put the orange in this bowl with the banana and the apples and the grapes” is better than “Here’s an orange”. Conversations: It only appears to be one-way! Context: “Nets of meaning”

What about two languages? Children are ready to learn language during the early years. They are good at it! No evidence that children get confused if they learn two languages during the infant-toddler years. The greater children’s exposure to each language, the larger their vocabulary in each language.

Earlier is better because earlier is easier Learning two languages during the infant-toddler years is as natural as learning one language. The infant-toddler years are a good time to lay a solid foundation for a minority language.

Learning environments matter Learning both languages well depends critically on the quality of the learning environment. Exposure to both languages must be: Long-term Regular Enriched

Talking is teaching Sharing a book is one of the best ways to enrich talk with babies. Focus on the pictures Read the words Make up your own story

A shared responsibility Everyone needs to help provide a quality learning environment for both languages. Family Other care-givers (workers in early childhood care and education) The community

For children learning to talk, everyone matters!

Talking to babies: Bringing it home The sooner you start, the better. Use a high-pitched, sing-song tone (parentese). Use rich, varied language and long sentences. Talk to babies and toddlers. Turn off the TV. Fit conversation into everyday activities. Read or talk about a book together for 10 minutes a day.

It all adds up!