If a 6-month old baby utterances consist primarily of syllables such as “ba-ba-ba-ba” or “ma-ma-ma-ma” (uttered in a monotone), the baby is most likely at which stage of language?
Cooing
Reduplicated babbling
Jargon babbling
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is Reduplicated babbling.
At around 6 months of age, babies enter the stage of reduplicated babbling. This stage is characterized by the repetition of consonant-vowel combinations, such as “ba-ba-ba” or “ma-ma-ma.” These utterances are typically made in a monotone, and while the baby may appear to be mimicking words, they are still practicing sound production and the rhythm of speech rather than using language with specific meaning.
Reduplicated babbling occurs after the cooing stage, which typically starts around 6 to 8 weeks of age. Cooing involves softer sounds like “oo” and “ah” and is often made with a higher pitch and varied intonation. Cooing is generally the baby’s first attempt to vocalize and experiment with the sounds they are capable of making. However, cooing doesn’t involve the repetitive consonant-vowel syllables seen in reduplicated babbling.
On the other hand, jargon babbling emerges later, typically around 9 to 12 months. During this stage, babies begin to produce strings of syllables with varied intonation patterns, resembling the rhythm and melody of real speech. However, the sounds are still not words, and the baby is not yet using actual language. Jargon babbling includes more complex patterns and might even sound like a conversation, but it still lacks meaning.
In reduplicated babbling, the repetition of syllables is important because it lays the foundation for the development of more complex speech. Through this repetitive sound production, babies develop the motor skills needed for speaking and start to gain the ability to use different sounds to construct future words. This period is crucial for language development, as babies begin to understand the concept of combining sounds to create communicative patterns.