Word Power
NURTURE
Give Them
The first word a toddler
utters is an unforgettable
moment in any parent’s
life. However, the
subsequent words the
little one says are just as
important! Family & Life
talks to two researchers
and discovers how you can
groom your child to be a
young Shakespeare.
Dads and Mums will have to fight for bragging rights
because the first word a toddler usually says, according
to a study done by Abbott Nutrition, is a toss-up between
“daddy” and “mommy”.
And when can you expect to hear those magical two syllables?
On average, between the ages of 11 and 12 months.
Toddler girls also trumped their male counterparts in
the vocabulary department, learning and speaking 34
more words on average than the boys. The findings were
backed up by earlier research done in this field and most
researchers are in agreement that this advantage is due to
Method 1: Eat More
(Frequently)!
In the study, Dr Tan and fellow
researcher Dr Low Yen Ling, the
Senior Lead for Clinical Research
and Nutrition in the Abbott Nutrition
R&D Asia-Pacific Centre, discovered
that babies eating smaller but more
frequent meals learned more words
and had a more robust vocabulary.
?
Top 10 words said most often by
toddlers in Singapore
Daddy
Bye Bye
Mummy Car Ball
Baby Dog
Eye Cat
Bus
“This is likely because a toddler’s
brain is undergoing rapid growth
and development and is a nutrienthungry organ,” says Dr Low,
“therefore, a regular supply of
nutrient in the form of smaller
but more frequent healthy meals
snacks may be especially helpful.”
The differences are startlingly large.
For every additional meal or snack
that a baby consumed,
he or she learned
a whopping eight
more words (18- to
20-months-old) or 19
more words (25- to
27-months-old).
A word of
caution though:
these meals have to
be complemented
with regular milk
consumption and are not
a substitute.
So, it is time to
dispense with the
age-old habit of
eating three times a
day. It might even help
you improve your own vocabulary!
24
Family & Life • Oct 2013
the inherent genetic differences – “girls in infancy [tend to]
develop faster neurologically”.
Dr Tan Seok Hui, an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the
National University of Singapore, also believes parents tend to
speak differently to their babies based on the gender, which
contributes to this gap. “Parents use different speech styles
with them. Boys receive relatively fewer phrases such as
‘put the bear over there’, while girls may be more exposed to
words by their parents who use a descriptive style (e.g., ‘does
the bear like the ice cream?’) wi th them,” Dr Tan explains.
Genetic differences aside, Dr Tan introduces three methods that
parents can try out to significantly improve their toddlers’ vocabulary.
Method 2: Read
More Often!
Of course, eating a lot without
complementing it with other activities
is a ticket to childhood obesity. Dr Tan
and Dr Low recommend that parents
read as much as possible to their child
to maximise the amount of words the
toddler learns.
“Every additional hour of reading per
week was associated with three more
words (18- to 20-months-old) and six
more words (25- to 27-months-old) in
expressive vocabulary,” Dr Low says.
Why is this so? Dr Low attributes this
to the attention parents pay to their
child when reading.
“When a parent is reading to his or
her toddler, the parent will point and
talk about things that are on the page
while the toddler will look on at the
same thing,” she says. “And because
the toddler is looking at the object the
parent is labelling, he or she is likely
to learn the words that describe that
particular object.”
Picture books are especially useful.
The parent will point out the object on
the page and read the name out loud to
the toddler who is sitting on his or her
lap. The toddler will then associate that
image with the noun or title that the
parent uttered.
So parents, purchase or borrow a couple
of picture books, sit down with your
toddler for a few hours and read to him
or her. It is great entertainment for a few
hours and also helps to strengthen the
bonds between the both of you!
Method 3: Speak
More Words
(And In Complete
Sentences)!
Now that you’re feeding your
toddler smaller but more frequent
meals and have picture books,
what else can you do to turn your
toddler into the next Shakespeare?
Speaking to them frequently, of
course. And avoid the baby talk!
Studies have shown that the more
frequently toddlers hear a word,
the earlier they learn that word.
Similarly, the larger the variety
of words, the bigger your child’s
vocabulary becomes since your
toddler only learns words which they
have heard.
When your toddlers are older, Dr
Tan recommends speaking to them
in complete sentences as it fosters
their grammatical development.
At this stage, their brains are like a
sponge, learning and absorbing a lot
of information at once.
Doctors discovered
that babies eating
smaller but more
frequent meals
learned more
words and had a
more robust
vocabulary.