Winda Tri Mundari (0743042046) Baby Talk

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
ANALYSIS OF BABY TALK

By:
Winda Tri Mundari (0743042046)







SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY
ARTS AND LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
LAMPUNG UNIVERSITY
2011


CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Background
Language acquisition is the process of learning a native or second language. The acquisition of native languages is studied primarily by developmental psychologists and psycholinguists. In his native language there are certain norms in pronunciation and syntax
that may differ from those of the second language and interfere with his or her use of the new
language. On the other hand, native language literacy and cognitive development in the native
language will help a student to learn a new language by a transferring of concepts from one
language and applying them to the new one.

Definition of Baby Talk

Baby talk also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS) or child-directed speech (CDS) and informally as "motherese", "parentese", or "mommy talk", is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is similar to what is used by people when talking to their pets (pet-directed speech), and between adults as a form of affection, intimacy, bullying or condescension. Possible purposes of baby talk are:
A. Use with infants
Baby talk is more effective than regular speech in getting an infant's attention. Studies have shown that infants actually prefer to listen to this type of speech. Some researchers, including Rima Shore (1997), believe that baby talk is an important part of the emotional bonding process between the parents and their child that help the infants learn the language. More than one language can also be learned because eventually, the child will be clever enough to differentiate the languages. It is easier to learn languages as an infant than as an adult. Other researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Wisconsin confirm that using basic “baby talk” helps babies pick up words faster than usual. Infants actually pay more attention when parents use infant-directed language, which has a slower and more repetitive tone than used in regular conversation.
Colwyn Trevarthen studied babies and their mothers. He observed the communication and subtle movements between the babies and mothers. He has links to music therapy with other theorists.

B. Use with non-infants
The use of baby talk is not limited to interactions between adults and infants, as it may be used among adults, or by adults to animals. In these instances, the outward style of the language may be that of baby talk, but is not considered actual parentese, as it serves a different linguistic function.

How Do Children Acquire Language?
Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.
Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to, will not acquire language. And the language must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk.
Children acquire language through interaction - not only with their parents and other adults, but also with other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by conversation, will acquire the language that is being used around them. And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.

The special way in which many adults speak to small children also helps them to acquire language. This 'baby talk' has simpler vocabulary and sentence structure than adult language, exaggerated intonation and sounds, and lots of repetition and questions. All of these features help the child to sort out the meanings, sounds, and sentence patterns of his or her language.


CHAPTER II


This chapter provides the examples of baby talk that the writer managed to record. The participants in this video are:
1. Aya : The child who is being baby- talked. A girl aged 3 years old.
2. Liya : Aya’s aunt. She is a university student.
3. Kesya : Aya’s cousin, He is in junior high school.

Transcript:
The Baby played together with her neighborhood and her aunt Liya is in charged to babysitting her.
Kesya: ( sing ) Lari pagi…lari..pagi..lari pagi
Aya : Jalan sehat…jalan sehat (follow Kesya song)
Liya : emang kaya gitu tah?
Aya : Bukan kaya gitu.., kaya gini ( open and close her legs) gini..gini
Liya : kok pindah- pindah kaya gitu sih…, coba ulangin. Ayo dong cepet..cepet..
Aya : Ah gak isa (slow)
Liya : Ya udah.., trus Aya maunya ngapain?
Aya : (silent, shook)
Other children : (noisy) ayo Aya….
LIya : Iam dulu geh…, bareng- bareng aja ya?
Aya : (silent, no response)
Gak mau…
Liya : Kok gak mau? Aya maunya ngapain, Aya?
Aya : gak pa pa
Liya : Trus aya bisanya ngapain?
Aya : gak au (ignore)
Kesya : (sing) sayangi teman…sayangi teman…
Aya : (continue Kesya’s song) jalan di empat…tangan di pinggang…
Kesya : (sing with act)
Aya : gak kaya gitu
Liya : emang kaya gimana yang bener? Ayo dong mbak aya…
Mbak aya ayo dong…, kalo gitu ayat kursi aja ya…apa?
Kesya : tu…. ya, Raka apal ayat kursi. Kesya aja ya mbak?
Aya : lupa…
Kesya : Aya kan belum bisa ngaji Iqra 3 ama 4?
Aya : isa..!
Kesya : kamu tu belum bisa Iqra 3
Aya : Bisak!
Kesya : Coba ini huruf apa? (show the word)
Aya : tsa!
Kesya : Dho’, kalo yang ini apa?
Aya : A’
Kesya : na, katanya udah bisa iqra 3 masa dibilang huruf A, B, C, D, E. Emangnya Abjad.
Aya : (no response )
Kesya : mbak Liya bobo tempat aku ya ?
Liya : ya.
Aya : gak boleh…
Liya : Kenapa ?
Aya : gak pa pa…gak pa pa
Kesya : Ya udah, nanti kalo gak mau nyanyi mbak liya gak mau bobok sama Aya lho.
Liya : iya lho, ayo nyanyi, kok kamu makan trus si ya? Kamu laper ya?
Aya : ho..oh
Liya : emang blum makan apa ?
Aya : makan nasi goreng… Papa masak , sekarang wafer.
Liya : Jadi kamu makan nasi goreng tapi belum makan wafer.
Aya ; ( nod..Nod)

Analysis of Baby Talk
1. Modifications in speech rate, intonation, and speech sound articulation
Based on Pica and Lynch, there are reduced number of word per minute, increased length of pause, exaggerated intonation, more careful articulation, reduction of vowel and consonant clusters, fewer contractions of verb phrase constituents often accompany the slower rate of speech. The adult’s speech in those conversations showed those characteristics of speech. The adult’s speech had been reduced number of word per minute as shown below:
Adult :Iam dulu geh.

Besides, the adult’s speech increased length of pause, such as:
Adult : kok pindah- pindah kaya gitu sih…(pause), coba ulangin… Ayo dong (pause) cepet..cepet..

The adult also exaggerated intonation, delivered more careful articulation, made reduction of vowel and consonant clusters, and gave fewer contractions of verb phrase constituents to the baby which can be observed by the adult’s utterances below:
Liya : Ya udah.., trus Aya maunya ngapain?
Aya : (silent, shook)
LIya : Iam dulu geh…, bareng- bareng aja ya?
Aya : (silent, no response)
Gak mau…
Liya : Kok gak mau? Aya maunya ngapain, Aya?
Aya : gak pa pa

2. Modifications of morphology and syntax
As Patil’s research result that native speakers tend to use simple sentence with simple grammatical structure in their speech to the nonnative speakers, the adult’s speech was also delivered in simple sentence and grammatical structure to the baby. It is shown by conversation below:

Liya : emang kaya gitu tah?
Aya : Bukan kaya gitu.., kaya gini ( open and close her legs) gini..gini
Liya : kok pindah- pindah kaya gitu sih…, coba ulangin. Ayo dong cepet..cepet..
Aya : Ah gak isa (slow)

Those utterances delivered by adult were spoken in simple sentences and simple grammatical structure so that the baby was able to respond the spoken well.

3. Modifications in vocabulary
As Patil’s suggestion that the vocabulary directed to nonnative speakers was structurally simpler containing practically no phrasal idioms, all of the utterances used by adult in those conversations were delivered in simple words without any complicated phrasal. Besides, the lexical items of narrow semantic field were occasionally substituted by general words. It can be observed from the following conversation:
LIya : Iam dulu geh…, bareng- bareng aja ya?
Aya : (silent, no response)
Gak mau…
Liya : Kok gak mau? Aya maunya ngapain, Aya?
Aya : gak pa pa
Liya : Trus aya bisanya ngapain?
Aya : gak au (ignore)

Aya : gak kaya gitu
Liya : emang kaya gimana yang bener? Ayo dong mbak aya…
Mbak aya ayo dong…, kalo gitu ayat kursi aja ya…apa?
Kesya : tu…. ya, Raka apal ayat kursi. Kesya aja ya mbak?
Aya : lupa…
Kesya : Aya kan belum bisa ngaji Iqra 3 ama 4?
Aya : isa..!

Kesya : mbak Liya bobo tempat aku ya ?
Liya : ya.
Aya : gak boleh…
Liya : Kenapa ?
Aya : gak pa pa…gak pa pa

Kesya : Ya udah, nanti kalo gak mau nyanyi mabk liya gak mau bobok sama Aya lho.
Liya : iya lho, ayo nyanyi, kok kamu makan trus si ya? Kamu laper ya?
Aya : ho..oh

4. Modifications of discourse
Based on Hatch who has proposed taxonomy of interactional moves, the adult’s speech delivered to the baby can be included as follow:
The taxonomy includes comprehension check (to see if the listeners has understood), it is shown by the following:

Liya : Ya udah.., trus Aya maunya ngapain?
Aya : (silent, shook)
Other children : (noisy) ayo Aya….
LIya : Iam dulu geh…, bareng- bareng aja ya?
Aya : (silent, no response)
Gak mau…
Liya : Kok gak mau? Aya maunya ngapain, Aya?
Aya : gak pa pa
Liya : Trus aya bisanya ngapain?

Those conversations showed that the adult asked the same question more than once. It was done in order to check whether the baby understood.

CONCLUSION

Based on the discussion, we can draw conclusion that baby talk is universally used by people in the world when they talk to babies. We also know for sure that each person has different kind of baby talk. There are several factors that influence a person’s baby talk. Age and Gender are some of them. A Study done by Japanese researcher also shows that a mother will have a “particular” period of awareness to baby talk when they have infants. This period will gradually disappear along with the growth of their babies. And last, we know that baby talk is extremely important for the baby in order to acquire their first language.