Acoustic training could accelerate language skills early on in babies

To set up their pre-linguistic acoustic maps, babies scan the environment for sounds that might be language, says expert. - AFP

Babies can be primed for optimal language learning when taught to recognise sounds as young as four months, before they are old enough to talk, says study.

“Young babies are constantly scanning the environment to identify sounds that might be language,” says Dr April Benasich, who directs the Infancy Studies Laboratory at the Rutgers University Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience. “This is one of their key jobs, as between 4 and 7 months of age they are setting up their pre-linguistic acoustic maps.”