Caregiver speech refers to the simplified and repetitive type of speech used by adults when speaking to infants and babies. It is characterized by slower speech, higher pitch, exaggerated intonation, shorter utterances, and simpler sentence structures. Caregiver speech helps infants learn language sounds and begin to recognize, then comprehend words. As children develop, their parents' speech becomes less repetitious with longer, more complex sentences about topics relevant to the child's everyday experiences and interests. While language development is primarily driven from within, caregiver speech offers support and guidance along the way.

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Caregiver
Speech
Presented to:
Ma’am Rabia
Presented by:
Hafsa Kayani

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Caregiver Language
The simplified and repetitive type of
speech, with exaggerated intonation
and rhythm, often used by adults
when speaking to babies.
•Motherese, caretaker language,
caregiver language

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Parents and adults help infants
master language sounds by
talking in a distinctive style

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Qualities
• Speech addressed to children is
different from that to adults
• Child-directed speech is slower
• Spoken with higher pitch
• Exaggerated intonation
• Utterances are shorter
• Sentence length is one-third of that of
adults

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•Sentences are well-formed
•Simple in structure
•Repetitious
•Same lexical item recur
•Special baby words are sometimes
used
•Doggie , Birdie, Gee-Gee, Chuff-Chuff,
Tum-Tum
•The topic is related to ‘here’ and ‘now’ –
things that are present both in place and
time

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• The link between caregiver speech
and child speech is not straightforward
• Correction by parents
• Immediate repetition by child
–no significant result
• Words and constructions which occur
frequently in adults will be produced
early by children

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• When talking to girls, adults
use more words like “doggie”
and “blankie” whereas with
boys, adults use more words
like “dog” and “blanket”.
Girls hear twice as many
diminutives.

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• Infants first recognize words,
then they begin to comprehend
words
• At about 4 ½ months of age,
infants will listen longer to a tape
repeating their own name than to
a tape of different but similar
name
• At about 7-8 months of age,
infants readily learn to recognize
new words and remember them
for weeks

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• At 6 months – if an infant
hears either “mommy” or
“daddy”, they look toward
the appropriate person.

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Productive Vocabulary
• Early productive vocabularies of
children include names for
people, objects, and events from
the child’s everyday life.
– Frequent events or routines are
also labeled, such as “up” or
“bye-bye”
– Nouns predominate the early
productive vocabularies of
children

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Unconscious Repetition
• For example:
• Open your mouth, open it
• Spit out the snail, spit the snail
out, spit it out
• Give mummy the snail, give
the snail, to mummy

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• Roger Brown:
the development of some aspect
of language may be related to
their frequency of use by
parents, but by no means all.

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Fine-tuning hypothesis
Parents have an inbuilt sensitivity
to their children. They gradually
increase the complexity of their
speech as the child becomes
ready for new stage.
Cross(1977)

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Recent research
• Parent attune their speech to children’s
need
-according to child’s interest
-not by language structure
• Subconsciously guiding
• No sign of step-by-step programme

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Child gets older:
• Parents speech less repetitious
• Longer sentences
• More complex subject
• Simple active declarative
sentences matter
• For example:
– Toby wants a bath
– Mariton is eating a bun

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More complex
• Imperatives:
– Turn off the tap!
– Come home!
• Questions
– What is tony eating?
– Why are you crying?

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Conclusion
• Language cannot really be
taught
• One can only offer the thread
along with language develops
on its own
• Adults help their children by
talking about things that
interest them

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• Children have inbuilt filter
– What they pay attention to
– Selective in WHAT he uses from the
environment provided
– WHEN to use it

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