Signature Assessment and E-Portfolio for Lifespan Human Growth and Development
A topic which interested me immensely while in class was that of language and cognitive development in infancy and childhood. Through the course of this reflection, the relevance of this issue shall manifest.
The choice of these topics leads to extensive areas to cover; however, most pertinent to my current interest is that of initial language acquisition, and how that particular process is facilitated by parents and the child’s physiological and cognitive abilities.
While researching this topic, I discovered an article by Naja Ferjan Ramirez, et. al., titled, “Parent coaching increases conversational turns and advances infant language development”, published in PNAS, February 18, 2020. This article detailed the impacts of parental vocalizations in the development of their child’s language. The authors define a particular type of speaking to an infant, “parentese”, which is a common modality of modulation of the parent’s voice to communicate with an infant. This use of parentese, with its focus on clear, slow, and specifically timbred characteristics, in conjunction intervention of parental coaching, which facilitates the use of “parentese”, led to a statistically important improvement in the child’s turn-taking and language skills.
I’ve not had much experience with infants, toddlers, or children in general. I hadn’t held a baby until my cousin had a child, many years ago in my early twenties. I saw the child once, moved away, and now come to the conclusion that the little baby I almost dropped is now going into high school. As such, when my wife and I found out we were having a child this summer, I had no understanding of what goes into raising a child, aside from needing to clothe, feed, and change them. As reality set in, the fact that I am soon to be responsible for raising a child, and preparing it to be successful in the world weighed heavy on my mind.
As I received my first Bachelor’s in English, I value and respect the importance of language. I argue it is the defining aspect of society and culture. This is not specific to English, and I don’t mean to imply the superiority of the language. Without the means to communicate in some fashion with another, we are in isolation, and our experience is incomplete. The fact that parents play such a large role in language acquisition and development makes me want to learn all I can about it, so I can be better prepared to help my child develop their skills, and be an effective communicator and listener.