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Linguistic Genius of Babies with Dr. Patricia Kuhl

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Believe it or not, babies are considered geniuses in language learning. 

Interested in learning more about the current research and practices on language and infant brain development? Dr. Patricia Kuhl, leading researcher in infant brain development, has shared two presentations to help you grow your knowledge of infant brain development and learn what you can do to advance children’s language skills during the critical early years.

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When babies listen, what they’re doing is taking statistics on the language that they hear.

Dr. Patricia Kuhl

As part of a collaborative one-day conference presented by Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell), Hearing First, and National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) in advance of the 2020 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Conference, the presentations highlight research on the growth of the human brain during the first five years of life.

Access the recorded presentations below and discover even more learning through the resources linked here.  

Part 1: Early Language Development 

Start with this presentation, "Early Language Development: Connecting the Dots Between Brain Development, 'Critical Periods' in Development, and a Child’s Communicative Success." You’ll learn: 

  • About the milestones of language development
  • Measurable features of brain growth during the first five years of life
  • What it means to say that the infant is “born to learn” 
  • Why the social brain “gates” early language development 
  • How learning language from media (TV screens, tablets, smart phones) is not successful during the early period of life

 

Download Transcript
A recording from March 7, 2020, Kansas City, MO

Part 2: Building the Baby Brain for Language

Continue learning with "Building the Baby Brain for Language: What is Our Role?" In this presentation, you’ll learn: 

  • Why parents and others need to help “build” the child’s brain during the critical period to support language learning
  • About “parentese” and what it looks like to talk to a baby 
  • How “parentese” language input and parent-child “turn-taking” enhance children’s language development

 

Download Transcript
A recording from March 7, 2020, Kansas City, MO

Featuring

Featured Headshot of Patricia Kuhl, Ph.D

Patricia Kuhl, Ph.D Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Co-Director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, The University of Washington

Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl holds the Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning, Co-Director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, and Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is internationally recognized for her research on early language learning and bilingual brain development, for pioneering brain measures on young children, and for studies that show how young children learn. She presented her work at two White House conferences (Clinton White House in 1997 and Bush White House in 2001). Dr. Kuhl is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Rodin Academy, and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Acoustical Society of America, the American Psychological Society, and the Cognitive Science Society. Dr. Kuhl is co-author of The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn (Harper Collins).

Note: CE credits or certificates of completion are not available for viewing this learning content. Professionals seeking CE credits should visit the Hearing First course catalog to find eligible learning opportunities for credits.

More Resources 

Hearing First offers a variety of resources related to early development and research on Listening and Spoken Language. See below links to download a few of the most popular resources.

 

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