Exposure to a second language in infancy alters speech production

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Linguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Infants' speech production skills develop rapidly in the first year.
• Bilingualism in infancy can influence language acquisition trajectories.
• The impact of short-term second language exposure on infant speech is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effects of second language exposure on infants' speech production.
• To compare speech skills in infants with varying levels of bilingual exposure.
• To investigate flexible prosody matching in response to different languages.

Main Methods:

• Comparison of three groups of 12-month-old infants: short-term Spanish exposure, simultaneous bilinguals, and monolingual controls.
• Analysis of infant speech production during interaction with Spanish- and English-speaking interlocutors.
• Assessment of prosodic matching in infant babbling.

Main Results:

• Infants with short-term Spanish exposure and bilingual infants flexibly matched babbling prosody to interlocutor language.
• Monolingual infants without Spanish exposure did not show flexible prosody matching.
• Early, even brief, second language exposure benefits infant speech adaptation.

Conclusions:

• Early exposure to a second language, including short-term exposure, confers benefits for infant speech production.
• Bilingual infants and infants with brief second language exposure demonstrate enhanced prosodic adaptation.
• Findings highlight the plasticity of infant language organization and the advantages of early multilingual experiences.