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Published on: April 19, 2017
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Input to the Language Learning Infant: The Impact of Other Children
Johanna Schick1, Moritz M Daum2,3, Sabine Stoll1
1Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Developmental Science
|July 21, 2025
Summary
Children pay more attention to other children speaking than adults, suggesting child speech is crucial for language acquisition, especially where adult speech input is limited. This study highlights the importance of peer interaction in early language development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cross-Cultural Studies
Background:
- Child-directed speech from adults is a primary predictor of native language acquisition in industrialized societies.
- Many societies offer limited exposure to adult-directed speech for children.
- The role of children's own speech in language acquisition remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of children's speech on language acquisition across different cultural settings.
- To compare infants' attention to child- vs. adult-directed speech.
- To explore acoustic and structural similarities between child-directed and child speech.
Main Methods:
- Cross-cultural head-turn experiments were conducted with Shipibo-Konibo infants (Peruvian Amazon) and Swiss infants (urban industrialized setting).
- Infants' attention was measured in response to recordings of children and adults speaking.
- Acoustic and structural features of different speech types were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Both Shipibo-Konibo and Swiss infants showed greater attention to children talking amongst themselves compared to adults speaking.
- Swiss infants, despite higher exposure to adult-directed speech, exhibited equal attention to adult-directed and child speech.
- Child-directed speech and child speech share notable acoustic and structural characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Speech produced by other children is a significant factor in language acquisition, comparable to adult-directed speech.
- The findings suggest that peer speech may play a vital role in language development, particularly in environments with less adult input.
- Shared features between adult- and child-produced speech may facilitate language learning.
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