HOW do infants learn the melodic and rhythmical aspects (prosody) of their first language?
The SoundStart project investigates how the prosodic skills of infants develop from the third trimester up and till the third year of life.
We are specifically interested in how two prosodic skills develop:
- Prosodic phrasing: The ability to break down speech into units based on rhythmic and melodic cues.
- Prosodic form-meaning mappings: The ability to associate an intonation pattern with a communicative meaning.
We study the role of the following mechanisms in prosodic development:
- Biologically motivated mechanisms
Are infants born with innate abilities that help prosodic development?
- Input-based learning mechanisms in the auditory modality
How does the language infants hear influence prosodic development?
- Visual modality
How do gestures facilitate prosodic development?
The project is divided into three focus areas:
The SoundStart project is funded by a Dutch Research Council’s VICI grant awarded to Prof. Aoju Chen (VI.C.201.109).
