By: Maya Listman


A recent study by University of British Columbia (UBC) published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found a link between babies’ tongue movements and the way they perceive sounds. Lead author Alison Bruderer explains that, until now, leaders in the field thought that the driving factor in language development was infants’ auditory experience. Turns out, it may actually be their tongues.

In the experiment, teething toys were placed in the mouths of six-month-old babies learning English. The babies listened to speech sounds, including two distinct Hindi “d” sounds. When the teethers in the infants’ mouths restricted tongue movement, the infants were unable to distinguish between two Hindi “d” sounds. But when they did not have the teethers in their mouths and were able to move their tongues freely, the babies were able to differentiate between the two “d” sounds. Janet Werker, professor in the UBC Department of Psychology concludes: “This study indicates that the freedom to make small gestures with their tongue and other articulators when they listen to speech may be an important factor in babies' perception of the sounds."  

When talking to your infant nieces and nephews, remember that they may not be able to distinguish the different words you if they have a teether, pacifier, a thumb or other finger in their mouth.