Recognizing Patterns of the Written Language Part 3
Dear Facebook Fans,
If your child has achieved the second milestone, there is a chance that the third milestone may have been learned, but not necessarily noticed. You may need to behave like an infant researcher to test whether or not your baby or child has learned any initial patterns of the written language. First, I will describe why this milestone is important, then I will detail how you can check to see if your child has already learned more than what you may have realized.
When learning the spoken language, many researchers used to believe that babies learned individual words first, then the general patterns of the language later. However, it is now clear that infants learn some patterns of the spoken language in the first year of life simultaneously with learning their first words. In other words, the baby is learning some syntax and grammar at the same time as learning initial individual words. Some scientists report that infants are better language learners than adults. This may be because of their abilities to learn patterns of languages. For example, infants who are learning English and another language can learn these patterns in English just as well as babies who are only learning English. The number of new synapses related to language development appears to peak around 11 months of age and that could help explain why infants may learn patterns naturally whereas adults may need to learn the patterns through rules and explanations (as well as a lot of effort).
Many researchers have pointed out how difficult it is to learn a spoken language simply by listening. One of the many difficulties in learning a language is figuring out where words begin and end since people typically don’t space their words out while speaking. Instead, one word often flows into the next in natural speech. Listen to an unfamiliar second language and imagine that you don’t even know there are individual words and imagine that you don’t know anything about grammar. You can see how complicated learning the spoken language could be for infants without this information. The babies who are learning written and spoken language are obviously getting extra sensory information which should help them figure out where words begin and end, for instance. It could also help them distinguish words that sound very similar because they would have visual information that other babies don’t have. In studies of babies who consistently used YBCR for at least 7 months, their receptive language, expressive language, overall language, and overall cognitive scores were significantly higher than a control group matched for socio-economic factors. The extra sensory information YBCR babies had by being allowed to see the language while hearing it might have made it easier for them to learn language skills in general. I say this for many reasons and I will give two of them here. First, there is so much evidence that learning through more than one sensory system helps infants learn more. Second, there are studies showing that learning one aspect of language often helps other aspects of language. The previous statement about babies learning language skills at a higher when they see and hear language simultaneously is a hypothesis that is supported, but not yet proved, with science. (Please see the posts on Nov. 5th for more information on the YBCR studies.)
My hypothesis – along with similar hypotheses of other scientists – is that infants are capable of learning the written language naturally in a way that is very similar to how babies learn the spoken language. If this is true, one would expect that infants would begin to figure out some patterns of the written language at the same time they are still learning individual words since this happens with spoken language. My daughters demonstrated they had learned some of these written language patterns by 12 months of age. I have tested many other babies at various ages and sometimes they show signs of having learned the patterns and sometimes they don’t. I believe it depends on many factors: the age at which the child began consistently seeing and hearing written language, how many words the child knows, which words the child knows, which words the child has seen and heard, the overall number of words seen and heard, what types of tests are used, the child’s mood at the moment of the test, the individual child, and many others. I intentionally included a wide variety of words in the YBCR program that made the initial learning sufficiently complex to make it possible for the babies to acquire these patterns. If, for example, the child only sees and hears three letter words in a consonant/vowel/consonant pattern such as ‘cat’, ‘red’, and ‘tap’, it would be nearly impossible to learn more complicated written language patterns.
I learned serendipitously that my older daughter was figuring out more than the individual words that I was teaching her when I accidentally held a word upside-down and she turned her head upside down to look at it. You may have had a similar experience already. If so, this is evidence that your baby/child has learned some general pattern of how words generally look. Please tell your stories here.
I developed tests to check if my younger daughter had learned these types of patterns.
Here are two ways of checking:
Test 1:
When you do this first test, it would be better if you show your child at least two or three words that are in the normal, upright orientations first, then show a word that is upside-down. Select a word that clearly looks unusual for an English word when it’s upside-down (for example, ‘bellybutton’, ‘kicking’, or ‘gorilla’). Many letters in English look like letters even when they are upside-down, so please don’t choose a word where the letters have vertical symmetry or where it still looks like a string of letters from our alphabet. Please don’t give your baby/child verbal or nonverbal cues that the word is upside-down. Just hold up the word like you would normally and observe your child’s response, then please write a few sentences and let us know what happened.
Test 2:
Hold up two “words†in front of your baby/child (for example, “ot†and “jumperâ€).
Please tell your child “First, look at both words. One of these words says ‘jumper’ and one word says ‘ot’.â€
Next, say “Which word says ‘jumper’?†OR “Which word do you think says ‘jumper’?â€
“Which word says ‘ot’?†OR “Which word do you think says ‘ot’?â€
Babies may answer by looking, pointing, or reaching for a word, so try to keep the words an equal distance from your child.
Now, hold up two more “words†in front of your baby/child (for example, “newspaper†and “zatâ€). Please tell your child “First, look at both words.â€
“Which word looks like it says ‘newspaper’?†OR “Which word do you think says ‘newspaper’?â€
“Which word looks like it says ‘zat’? OR “Which word do you think says ‘zat’?â€
Please do not do the first test frequently. It will be far better for your baby or child if most of your time is spent showing and saying words in an upright position. If your child shows no signs of having learned written patterns on the above tests, you may want to teach your child another 20 words, or so, before checking again.
It would be great if you could make a short video of your “test†the very first time you do it, then post the video here. It would also be helpful if you would state the number of written words your baby/child consistently reads and your child’s age.
It can be a very exciting time when you notice that your child has learned a pattern of the written language that you did not even attempt to specifically teach. This would help show that the babies have not only memorized the words, but they have started learning the patterns of the written language. It also would provide additional evidence that babies or toddlers can learn the written language in a way that is similar to how they learn the spoken language.
I am looking forward to hearing your comments about these patterns or watching your videos. Thanks so much for your interest in this extremely important topic.
Dr. Bob Titzer
Learning to Read Two- and Three-Word Phrases (Part 4 in a Series)
Dear Facebook Fans,
When babies learn to talk, they say their first individual words on average around 12 months of age. It generally takes another six months before the baby can say two or three words together. When young babies learn the written language, a similar pattern should be expected in that it is likely that babies will take many months after reading their first words before they are reading many two- or three-word phrases.
Even when young children can read many individual words, they are often overwhelmed when reading a large number of words in a sentence. It is helpful to provide a transition from reading individual words to reading long sentences and eventually books by having interim steps along the way, such as reading two- and three-word phrases. Initially, it is easier when you combine words with which the child is familiar for these phrases.
In the DVDs we have two-word couplets included in the first DVD so that your child will learn this concept and learn to read words from left-to-right. We include “arms up†and “arms down†as well as the word “arm.†We also include “look up†and “look down.†This should help their learning be more generalizable and help them learn to read new multiple-word phrases.
Write down some two- and three-word phrases as you are playing with your child. Many babies and toddlers enjoy playing matching games with words and objects. If you have cups that are red, blue, and yellow, you could write down: “red,†“blue,†“yellow,†and “cup†along with “red cup,†“blue cup,†and “yellow cup.†First, review the words a few times by saying the words as you point to them. For the color words, have many objects that are those colors. More specifically, say “red†as you point under the word from left-to-right, then quickly point out and talk about the red objects. Do the same for blue†and “yellow.†Next, play matching games where you ask your baby to place the words “red cup,†“blue cup,†and “yellow cup†by the respective cups. Do this with many different words and the corresponding objects.
Babies who watch our DVDs will see the words “wave†and “hand†making “wave your hand†a good choice for a three-word phrase. You could also use “clap your hands,†“kick your feet,†“touch your nose,†“tap one foot,†“touch one arm,†“wave two hands,†and other combinations of mostly familiar words. Have fun and act out each phrase. Encourage your baby to do the same.
When you are reading books that have many words on the same page, please realize that this is likely too many words for new readers. With these books, read the books for the love or joy of reading instead of using the book to help teach reading.
Find books that have only two or three words per page for babies who can read some words. (I think it is easier for the child to learn the first words when they are isolated.) Initially, point just below each individual word as you are reading them more slowly than usual. Once your child can read at least 50 words, slide your finger under the words as you say them more naturally. Next, teach your baby to point to the words while you are reading to your child. You can also take turns reading the words with your baby to help your child transition from reading individual words to short phrases.
Learning one area of language often helps the learning of other areas of language. Preschoolers will not likely take as long between reading their first words to reading short phrases because they can already talk. In the preschoolers’ cases knowing how to talk in phrases and sentences should help the child put words together more easily when reading. On the other hand, babies who are reading two- or three-word phrases may be able to say the words together earlier than if they did not have the written words to assist them.
Next week, I will be going to work at a baby show in London with one of my daughters. I generally meet many babies who can read on each day at these baby shows. I likely will do informal, fun tests with babies and toddlers to see if they have learned patterns of the written language. I hope you will continue to comment about how your baby responded to last week’s tests or how long it took your child to go from one milestone to the next. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Dr. Bob Titzer
