1. The Foundation: Early Sensitivity
* Universal Listeners: Babies are born with the ability to distinguish between almost all the sounds of all languages. This is known as "universal phonetic sensitivity." They are like little sound detectives, analyzing all the different speech sounds they hear.
* Tuning In: As babies are exposed to their native language, they begin to tune in to the sounds that are important in that language. They start to ignore the sounds that are not important.
2. The Process of Language Learning:
* Developing Categories: Children learn to categorize sounds into the phonemes of their native language. For example, in English, the "l" and "r" sounds are separate phonemes, meaning they change the meaning of a word (like "light" vs "right"). In some other languages, these sounds are considered variations of the same phoneme.
* Discrimination: They become better at discriminating between sounds that are important in their language and poorer at discriminating between sounds that are not. This is why it can be harder for adults to learn new languages - their brains have become specialized for their native language.
3. What Happens When Sounds Are Different:
* Perceptual Narrowing: The tuning in process, also called perceptual narrowing, happens gradually. It means that the brain becomes more specialized for the sounds of the native language.
* Examples:
* A Japanese child may have difficulty distinguishing between the English "l" and "r" sounds because Japanese doesn't use them as separate phonemes.
* An English speaker may struggle to differentiate between the two similar sounds in Korean, "ㅅ" (s) and "ㅆ" (ss), which are perceived as one sound in English.
4. Implications for Learning Languages:
* Early Exposure: Children who are exposed to more than one language early in life tend to maintain their ability to distinguish between a wider range of sounds. This is why bilingual children are often considered to have an advantage in language learning.
* Second Language Acquisition: Adults learning a second language may have difficulty with sounds that are not present in their native language. This is because their brains have already specialized in the sounds of their first language. However, with dedicated practice and exposure, adults can still learn to perceive and produce new sounds.
In short, the sounds children hear shape their brains and their ability to perceive and produce language. This is a crucial process that influences language development throughout life.