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Source: University of Washington.

For years, scientists and parents alike have touted the benefits of introducing babies to two languages: Bilingual experience has been shown to improve cognitive abilities, especially problem-solving.

And for infants raised in households where two languages are spoken, that bilingual learning happens almost effortlessly. But how can babies in monolingual households develop such skills?

“As researchers studying early language development, we often hear from parents who are eager to provide their child with an opportunity to learn another language, but can’t afford a nanny from a foreign country and don’t speak a foreign language themselves,” said Naja Ferjan Ramirez, a research scientist at the University of Washington Institute of Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS).

A new study by I-LABS researchers, published July 17 in Mind, Brain, and Education, is among the first to investigate how babies can learn a second language outside of the home. The researchers sought to answer a fundamental question: Can babies be taught a second language if they don’t get foreign language exposure at home, and if so, what kind of foreign language exposure, and how much, is needed to spark that learning?

The researchers took their query all the way to Europe, developing a play-based, intensive, English-language method and curriculum and implementing it in four public infant-education centers in Madrid, Spain. Sixteen UW undergraduates and recent graduates served as tutors for the study, undergoing two weeks of training at I-LABS to learn the teaching method and curriculum before traveling to Spain. The country’s extensive public education system enabled the researchers to enroll 280 infants and children from families of varying income levels.

Based on years of I-LABS research on infant brain and language development, the method emphasizes social interaction, play, and high quality and quantity of language from the teachers. The approach uses “infant-directed speech” — often called “parentese” — the speech style parents use to talk to their babies, which has simpler grammar, higher and exaggerated pitch, and drawn-out vowels.

“Our research shows that parentese helps babies learn language,” Ferjan Ramirez said.

Babies aged 7 to 33.5 months were given one hour of English sessions a day for 18 weeks, while a control group received the Madrid schools’ standard bilingual program. Both groups of children were tested in Spanish and English at the start and end of the 18 weeks. The children also wore special vests outfitted with lightweight recorders that recorded their English learning. The recordings were analyzed to determine how many English words and phrases each child spoke.

The children who received the UW method showed rapid increases in English comprehension and production, and significantly outperformed the control group peers at all ages on all tests of English. By the end of the 18-week program, the children in the UW program produced an average of 74 English words or phrases per child, per hour; children in the control group produced 13 English words or phrases per child, per hour.

Ferjan Ramirez said the findings show that even babies from monolingual homes can develop bilingual abilities at this early age.

“With the right science-based approach that combines the features known to grow children’s language, it is possible to give very young children the opportunity to start learning a second language, with only one hour of play per day in an early education setting,” she said. “This has big implications for how we think about foreign-language learning.”
A new I-LABS study shows that, if we take the right science based approach, babies can start developing bilingual skills with just one hour of play per day, in the context of early education centers.

Follow-up testing 18 weeks later showed the children had retained what they learned. The English gains were similar between children attending the two schools serving predominantly low-income neighborhoods and the two serving mid-income areas, suggesting that wealth was not a significant factor in the infants’ ability to learn a foreign language. Children’s native language (Spanish) continued to grow as they were learning English, and was not negatively affected by introducing a second language.

“Science indicates that babies’ brains are the best learning machines ever created, and that infants’ learning is time-sensitive. Their brains will never be better at learning a second language than they are between 0 and 3 years of age,” said co-author Patricia Kuhl, co-director of I-LABS and a UW professor of speech and hearing sciences.

The results, Kuhl said, have the potential to transform how early language instruction is approached in the United States and worldwide:

“Parents in Madrid, in the United States and around the world are eager to provide their children with an opportunity to learn a foreign language early. The U.S. census shows that 27 percent of America’s children under the age of 6 are now learning a language other than English at home. While these children are fully capable of learning both their parents’ language and English, they often do not have adequate exposure to English prior to kindergarten entry and as a result, often lag behind their peers once they enter school,” she said.

“I-LABS’ new work shows we can create an early bilingual learning environment for dual-language learners in an educational setting, and in one hour per day, infants can ignite the learning of a second language earlier and much easier than we previously thought. This is doable for everybody,” Kuhl said.

Funding: The study was supported by the Madrid Regional Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and the UW I-LABS Ready Mind Project.

Source: Deborah Bach – University of Washington
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the University of Washington news release.
Video Source: Video credited to I-LABS UW.
Original Research: Abstract for “Bilingual Baby: Foreign Language Intervention in Madrid’s Infant Education Centers” by Naja Ferjan Ramirez, and Patricia Kuhl in Mind, Brain, and Education. Published online July 17 2017 doi:10.1111/mbe.12144

Abstract

Bilingual Baby: Foreign Language Intervention in Madrid’s Infant Education Centers

The first years of life represent a unique window of opportunity for foreign language learning. However, key questions are: How much and what kind of foreign language exposure is needed to ignite learning? We conducted a foreign language (English) intervention in four public Infant Education Centers in Madrid, Spain. Intervention children (N = 126, ages 7–33.5 months) experienced 18 weeks of daily, hour-long, group English sessions with native-speaking tutors, using a brain-based method of infant language development. Intervention infants were compared to a matched Current Practice Comparison (CPC) group of peers in the same schools. Intervention children outperformed the CPC group, showing rapid gains on measures of English word comprehension and English speech production. Schools’ neighborhood wealth was not a significant factor in learning. Follow-up analyses show that the language gains were fully retained 18 weeks post-intervention. Children’s foreign language skills advance quickly in school using this research-to-practice curriculum.

“Bilingual Baby: Foreign Language Intervention in Madrid’s Infant Education Centers” by Naja Ferjan Ramirez, and Patricia Kuhl in Mind, Brain, and Education. Published online July 17 2017 doi:10.1111/mbe.12144

Summary: A new study from the University of Exeter adds to growing evidence that embarking on daily challenging puzzles can help protect brain function later in life. Researchers report older people who complete a daily crossword have brain function equivalent to people ten years their junior when it comes to grammatical reasoning and short term memory accuracy.

Source: University of Exeter.

The more regularly people report doing word puzzles such as crosswords, the better their brain function in later life, a large-scale and robust online trial has found.

Experts at the University of Exeter Medical School and Kings College London analysed data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over, submitted in an online trial. In research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017, the team asked participants how frequently they played word puzzles such as crosswords.

The study, one of the largest of its kind, used tests from the CogTrackTM and PROTECT online cognitive test systems to assess core aspects of brain function. They found that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.

From their results, researchers calculate that people who engage in word puzzles have brain function equivalent to ten years younger than their age, on tests of grammatical reasoning speed and short term memory accuracy.

Keith Wesnes, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “We found direct relationships between the frequency of word puzzle use and the speed and accuracy of performance on nine cognitive tasks assessing a range of aspects of function including attention, reasoning and memory. Performance was consistently better in those who reported engaging in puzzles, and generally improved incrementally with the frequency of puzzle use. For example, on test measures of grammatical reasoning speed and short-term memory accuracy, performing word puzzles was associated with an age-related reduction of around 10 years. We now need to follow up this very exciting association in a clinical trial, to establish whether engaging in puzzles results in improvement in brain function.”

The study used participants in the PROTECT online platform, run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London. Currently, more than 22,000 healthy people aged between 50 and 96 are registered in the study, which is planning further expansion. The online platform enables researchers to conduct and manage large-scale studies without the need for laboratory visits. PROTECT is a 10 year study with participants being followed up annually to enable a better understanding of cognitive trajectories in this age range. PROTECT is funded by the Alzheimer’s Society and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Bioresource, including through its NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN).

Clive Ballard, Professor of Age-Related Diseases at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “We know that many of the factors involved in dementia are preventable. It is essential that we find out what lifestyle factors really make a difference to helping people maintain healthy brains to stop the soaring rise of the disease. We can’t yet say that crosswords give you a sharper brain – the next step is to assess whether encouraging people to start playing word games regularly could actually improve their brain function.”

Dr Doug Brown, Director of Research of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We know that keeping an active mind can help to reduce decline in thinking skills.

“This new research does reveal a link between word puzzles, like crosswords, and memory and thinking skills, but we can’t say definitively that regular ‘puzzling’ improves these skills.

“To be able to say for sure, the crucial next step is to test if there are benefits in people who take up word puzzles.

“In the meantime our top tips to reduce the risk of developing dementia are keeping physically active, avoiding smoking and eating a healthy balanced diet.”

The poster, entitled The Relationship Between the Frequency of Word Puzzle Use and Cognitive Function in a Large Sample of Adults Aged 50 to 96 Years, is being presented at AAIC on Monday, July 17, 2017: 9:30AM – 4:15PM.

Funding: The study was supported by Alzheimer’s Society, National Institute for Health Research Bioresource, NIHR Clinical Research Network.