Babies start learning language in the womb says new study

Washington: Language learning begins in the womb, say scientists who have found that babies can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese a month before they are born. Previous studies have demonstrated this by measuring changes in babies’ behaviour — for example, by measuring whether babies change the rate of sucking on a pacifier when the speech changes from one language to a different language with different rhythmic properties. “This early discrimination led us to wonder when children’s sensitivity to the rhythmic properties of language emerges, including whether it may in fact emerge before birth,” said Utako Minai, associate professor at University of Kansas in the US. “Foetuses can hear things, including speech, in the womb. It’s muffled but the rhythm of the language should be preserved and available for the foetus to hear, even though the speech is muffled,” he said. Two dozen women, averaging roughly eight months pregnant, were examined using magneto cardiogram( M CG ). “It (MCG) fits over the maternal abdomen and detects tiny magnetic fields that surround electrical currents from the maternal and foetal bodies,” said Kathleen Gustafson, research associate professor at University of Kansas. That includes heartbeats, breathing and other body movements. “The foetal brain is developing rapidly and forming networks,” Gustafson said. “The foetus is exposed to maternal gut sounds, her heartbeats and voice, as well as external sounds,” she said. “Without exposure to sound, the auditory cortex wouldn’t get enough stimulation to develop properly. This study gives evidence that some of that development is linked to language,” she added.