Question

At birth, infants can distinguish among the speech sounds of all the world's languages, no matter what language is spoken in their homes; they are considered _____ until _____ when they can no longer distinguish speech sounds from another language if not spoken in their homes.

a) Bilingual; 6 months old
b) Monolingual; 12 months old
c) Multilingual; 3 years old
d) Universal listeners; around 10 months old

Answer 1

Infants start as universal listeners, able to distinguish all languages, but by around 10 months, they lose this ability for unfamiliar languages.

Step-by-step explanation:

Universal Listeners :

Infants are considered universal listeners until around 10 months old, at which point they lose the ability to distinguish speech sounds that are not present in their home environment. Initially, infants can discriminate among the phonemes of all human languages, indicating a remarkable capacity for language acquisition.

However, as they approach their first birthday, this ability becomes more specialized, and they typically only recognize phonemes they have been exposed to regularly. the speech sounds of all the world's languages, no matter what language is spoken in their homes. They are considered universal listeners until around 10 months old when they can no longer distinguish speech sounds from another language if not spoken in their homes.