Research has shown that babies do an incredible amount of language processing even before they reach their first birthday. The review “Brain Mechanisms in Early Language Acquisition” published September 9, 2010 in Neuron summarizes some of these data.

The auditory sensory areas in brains of newborns are activated by speech and a number of studies have shown that they are already acquiring language skills and their neural circuitry is influenced. However, the 0 to about 3 month old infant’s motor speech areas are not yet activated.

Speech directed to babies about 3 months old activates their motor speech areas in addition to their auditory sensory areas. At this point the infant begins acquiring sensory and motor language skills.

Social interaction is necessary to acquiring language skills in addition to hearing speech and using motor skills to make speech sounds. An infant exposed to a new language through social interaction shows robust learning. In contrast, infants exposed to the same material but through video or audio tapes show no learning at all.

An infant’s social behavior can be linked to their ability to learn new language material. Babies that are more actively engaged in the learning experience as measured by their gaze progress faster.

Very young babies (less than 1 year old) can seem like they’re doing very little. Don’t be fooled! They’re very active and are counting on you to baby-talk to them.