We told you about that suggests the more words parents speak to their toddlers, the larger their vocabulary.
But more research says how the child hears those words matter.
Developmental psychologists at the University of Chicago observed 30 families with 2 year olds to find out if toddlers pick up words when they overhear the chatter of others.
The researchers found that overheard speech was not a predictor of later vocabulary size.
What did matter was direct speech to the toddler.
The researchers found the more words and language directed to the child from all family members, the better vocabulary the child had later on.
It’s not enough for child to just overhear conversations, they need to take part. All family members should learn how to talk directly to the child and have back-and-forth conversations.
But even though overhearing speech was not a predictor of later vocabulary size, the research did suggest that listening to speech in the house may be important for learning about narrative structure and grammar.
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