Friday 24 August 2012

Young Learners & News: Babies' Do Talk??


Image from Daily Mail
Interesting article from the Daily Mail titled, Hey mum! I'm trying to tell you something: The faces babies pull aren't just adorable - they're trying to communicate. Here's what they're saying...
A really lengthy title indeed, the article itself is pretty short though, as most details are only available in the author's book, The Blossom Method.

The article introduces some of the patterns that psychotherapist and body language expert Vivien Sabel has discovered about baby's language. Although the viewpoints introduced in the article are pretty "blindingly obvious" as the Daily Mail reporter wrote, we should remember that books are meant to be for those who seek knowledge, something which is blindingly obvious to one may not be that obvious to another, thus any books will have their audience.

Image from Daily Mail
Actually, can babies really talk / communicate? Instead of thinking in terms of human, how about looking at other mammals such as the whales, giraffes and elephants? Their newborn not only instantly walk or swim, they also recognise their mothers and "communicate" with their parents through body language (or even animal speeches). Evolution has pushed these intelligent species to acquire such amazing abilities in order to survive, as the first couple of hours after birth are high time for the cubs to become predators' meals. Human babies need not fear such danger and may not have develop such basic instants, but parent-child communication remains highly possible.

Rugrats?
Image from fanpop
Any parent, let alone rationality, can tell you that they do communicate with their children in one way or another. No doubt about that. My question though, is that if the patterns observed are indeed what the author has claimed, then what does the baby mean when all these "decoded" expressions appear one after another? This is highly possible.
Image from Daily Mail
Babies seldom maintain one single expression when they are awake, then how should their changing expressions be interpreted?
Image from Daily Mail
The last thing is, even if one really can read babies' mind, does that imply the babies' wish must be fulfilled in order to help their development? You see, some parents often choose to ignore their babies' crying for food or hugs so as not to let the babies "get used to obtaining what they want too easily". If the parents can really see what their babies want now, will the babies benefit or suffer more? If babies really are that highly intelligent even at very young age, will more parents assume that the babies should also understand why their parents are not giving them food when they are hungry or hugs when they feel lonesome?
Albert Einstein
Image from paulocoelhoblog
Babies language interpretation does help, but I do hope that parents not to imagine their babies as Einstein. Consult experts if there are doubts.


Vocabulary:
blossom -- (n) [C or U] a small flower, or the small flowers on a tree or plant, hereby refer to as the process of growing up
blindingly -- (adv) extremely
predator -- (n)[C] an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals
infant -- (n)[C]a baby or a very young child



Resources:
Hey mum! I'm trying to tell you something: The faces babies pull aren't just adorable - they're trying to communicate. Here's what they're saying... @ Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2185561/Hey-mum-Im-trying-tell-The-adorable-faces-baby-pulls-attempts-communicate.html?ITO=1490

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blossom_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blindingly?q=blindingly+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/predator?q=predator+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/infant_1?q=infant+