Song and infant-directed speech facilitate word learning

Abstract

Two separate lines of research have examined the influence of song and infant-directed speech (IDS—a speech register that includes some melodic features) on language learning, suggesting that the use of musical attributes in speech input can enhance language learning. However, the benefits of these two types of stimuli have never been directly compared. In this investigation, we compared the effects of song and IDS for immediate word learning and long-term memory of the learned words. This study examines whether the highly musical stimuli (i.e., song) would facilitate language learning more than the less musical stimuli (i.e., IDS). English-speaking adults were administered a word learning task, with Mandarin Chinese words presented in adult-directed speech (ADS), IDS, or song. Participants’ word learning performance was assessed immediately after the word learning task (immediate word learning) and then 1 day later (long-term memory). Results showed that both song and IDS facilitated immediate word learning and long-term memory of the words; however, this facilitative effect did not differ between IDS and song, suggesting that the relationship between the degree of musicality and language learning performance is not linear. In addition, song and IDS were found to facilitate the word association process (mapping a label to its referent) rather than the word recognition process. Finally, participants’ confidence in their answers might not differ among ADS, IDS, and sung words.

Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures

“…If people worldwide reliably alter their speech and song when interacting with infants, as the above findings suggest, this may enable listeners to make reliable inferences concerning the intended targets of speech and song, consistent with functional accounts of infant-directed vocalization 33,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]46 . We tested this hypothesis in a simple listening experiment.…”

“…What enables such a diverse group of people to arrive at such similar conclusions about unfamiliar, foreign vocalizations, in languages that they do not understand? One possibility is that there exists a universal set of acoustic features driving listeners' inferences concerning the intended targets of speech and song, which are reliably instantiated within and across societies, as suggested by functional accounts of infant-directed vocalization 33,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]46 .…”

Singing to infants matters: Early singing interactions affect musical preferences and facilitate vocabulary building

“…Overall, research has produced robust evidence of a powerful relationship between characteristics of language input in terms of qualitative and quantitative individual differences, and language development outcomes in toddlers and young children (D'Odorico & Jacob, 2006;Fernald et al, 2013;Fernald & Mazzie, 1991;Romeo et al, 2018;Suttora et al, 2017;. In this framework, besides being 'as good as speech', it is possible that ID-song might even present specific contributions to language development in its own right (see also Ma et al, 2019).…”

Does age affect perception of the Speech-to-Song Illusion?

“…Perceptual illusions provide psychologists with other ways to examine the limits of perceptual and cognitive systems, potentially increasing our fundamental understanding of these systems [3,4,49,50]. Recent work has demonstrated that song and infant-directed speech facilitates the process of word learning in adults [51]. Because both (a register of) speech and song influence the language-related process of word-learning, further examination of auditory illusions like the Speech-to-Song Illusion might provide insight in to a wide range of other language-related processes.…”