Invite your baby to talk, his language development will definitely improve

Parents' use of natural language, plus smiles, touches and warm responses, has a positive impact on babies.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

A mother introduced the pool to her child before starting to practice swimming at the pool managed by Splish Splash Indonesia in the Cempaka Putih area of Jakarta, in late July 2022.

The interaction between parents and their babies has a lot of benefits. In addition to creating attachment and closeness, a warm interaction between parents and babies also has a very positive impact on the baby's growth, especially in language development.

This has been proven through research carried out by researchers from the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington. The results of this research have been published in the journal Current Biology on April 8 2024.

In their research, researchers used brain imaging techniques that are claimed to be safe and non-invasive. Through a method called magnetoencephalography (MEG), researchers can monitor babies' brain activity during social and non-social interactions with the same adult.

They found that when adults talk and play with five-month-old babies, the baby's brain activity increases, especially in the part of the brain that plays a role in giving attention. This level of activity is expected to enhance language development later on in life.

Also read: Inviting Babies to Talk Affects Brain Development

This "social" scenario was then compared with the "non-social" scenario, where adults turn away from their babies to talk to others. This interaction shows a lower level of activity in the same area of the baby's brain.

”This is the first study to directly compare infant brain responses to adult-infant social interactions versus nonsocial interactions, and then follow up with children until they reach 2.5 years of age to see how early brain activation relates to children's language abilities in the future," said main author Alexis Bosseler, research scientist at I-LABS, on the University of Washington's website, last week.

MEG brain imaging technology enables babies to move and interact naturally with adults. This allows researchers to track the release of neurons from various areas of the baby's brain as adults speak, play, and smile at the baby. They then monitor the baby's brain activity for a second time as the adult turns away and pays attention to someone else.

This action naturally occurs every day between adults and babies. Research shows that this action has different measurable effects on the baby's brain.

Active communication from parents to babies will increase their development in language.

Researchers have found that an increase in neurological activity as a response to social interaction in five-month-old infants predicts an increase in language development in the following ages of 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30 months. The researchers tracked the language development of infants using a well-documented and validated survey by asking parents about the words and sentences their babies uttered at home.

"The relationship between early brain reactions and subsequent language is consistent with scientists' interest in the early ages and opens up many new questions that we and others will explore," said Andrew N. Meltzoff, co-author and researcher at I-LABS who is also a director and psychology expert at the University of Washington.

KOMPAS/HARRY SUSILO

A 16-month-old baby girl, Baiq Adiba Shaqeena, was in her mother's arms, Siti Aisyah, as she suffered from diarrhea inside the health tent of Pemenang Health Center, North Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, at the end of August 2018.

Researchers chose five-month-old babies for this study because that age is right before the "sensitive period" for language learning, which begins around six months old. During this period, it is very important for babies to observe adults because paying attention will enhance learning for the baby.

"Using the native language when speaking to babies represents an intuitive desire to connect," said Patricia Kuhl, a senior author and one of the directors of I-LABS.

He stated that this opens up an implied understanding that language is about connection. "It's about communication pathways between you and others. It starts from infancy with a desire to establish communicative relationships," he said.

Also read: Gads and Speech Ability in Children

He hopes that the findings can be understood and applied by parents. Active communication from parents to babies will improve the baby's language development.

"We knew from previous research that social interaction is crucial at nine months of age for learning a foreign language, but current research shows that social interaction plays an even earlier role," said Kuhl.

He said, this study shows that the use of natural parental language, combined with smiles, touches, and warm responses to the baby's actions, has real and measurable effects on the baby's brain. With parents' behavior in capturing and maintaining the baby's attention and motivating them to learn during their development, it will have a positive impact on the baby's development.