ManyBabies1 part 2: Influences of language experience on infant-directed speech preference

Abstract

ManyBabies1, our first effort at a large scale collaborative infant experimental study, provided a conceptual replication of the well-known phenomenon of infant preference for the characteristics of Infant-directed speech (IDS). One important question that has largely been unanswered by extant literature is how much the IDS preference is dependent on experience with a specific language. How do infants respond to IDS that is in a non-native variety, and how does their listening affect this preference? ManyBabies 1 used a consistent stimulus set of North-American English (NAE), which allowed us to answer this questions using two approaches. First, because participating ManyBabies 1 labs were located around the world, we were able to compare monolingual infants from a range of native-language backgrounds. We found that the preference for North American English IDS was larger for infants whose native language was NAE than for infants who had a different native language. Second, we conducted a sister project, ManyBabies 1 Bilingual, which tested infants from a variety of bilingual backgrounds. Bilinguals have similar total language experience and maturation as monolinguals, but their experience is divided across two or more languages. Planned analyses will examine monolingual-bilingual differences, and “dose-response” effects of exposure to NAE.