IELTS Reading: yes, no, not given

Read the following passage about how parents speak to infants.

'Parentese'

Parentese, the exaggerated, drawn-out form of speech that people use to communicate with babies, apparently is universal and plays a vital role in helping infants to analyse and absorb the phonetic elements of their parents’ language. An international study shows that infants are so good at analysing this speech that by the age of 20 weeks they are beginning to produce the three vowel sounds common to all human languages — “ee,” “ah” and “uu.”

“Parentese has a melody to it. And inside this melody is a tutorial for the baby that contains exceptionally well-formed versions of the building blocks of language,” explains Patricia Kuhl, a University of Washington neuroscientist.

The new study examined differences in how American, Russian and Swedish mothers speak to their infants and to other adults. The study shows that parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words. Mothers in the study were, in effect, sounding out “super-vowels” to help their infants learn the phonetic elements of language.

“In normal, everyday speech adults generally race along at a very fast pace,” Kuhl says. “But we know it is easier to understand a speaker when they stretch out sounds. That’s why we tend to speak more slowly and carefully to increase understanding when we teach in the classroom or talk to strangers. We also do this unconsciously with babies, giving them an improved verbal signal they can capitalise on by slowing down and over articulating.”

(Source: www.washington.edu)

Do the statements below agree with the author's claims?
Write yes, no or not given.

1. ‘Parentese’ is not common to all cultures.
2. Parents tend to lengthen and over-emphasise certain sounds when speaking to infants.
3. Adults are aware that they need to use parentese when speaking to babies.

Comments

[Umesh]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Not given

[soheil]

no
yes
no

[Abbas Ambawala]

No
Yes
Not Given

[Oley]

1. No - universal
2.Yes -exaggerated , drawn-out
3.No , unconsciously

[Leon]

Not given
Yes
No

[Motaz]

No
Yes
Not given

[Akter]

Not Given
NO
NO

[Ameet]

No. apparently is universal and plays a vital role in helping infants to analyse and absorb the phonetic elements of their parents’ language.

YES. The study shows that parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words

Not Given. We also do this unconsciously with babies, giving them an improved verbal signal they can capitalise on by slowing down and over articulating.”

[Murad]

1.No
‘Parentese’ is not common to all cultures =apparently is universal and plays a vital role in helping infants to analyse

2.Yes
Parents tend to lengthen and over-emphasise certain sounds when speaking to infants = parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words.

3.Not given
Adults are aware that they need to use parentese when speaking to babies = there is no information about adults awarenesses related to using it.

[PT]

1 No, 2 Yes, 3 No

[Myha]

I think all of these statements are NOT GIVEN.
1. the text does not mention anything about all cultures
2. and 3. these statements can only be found in other's claims, not by the author himself.

[Vanessa]

1. Not given
2. Yes
3. No

[Mehdi]

Dear All,

1- Not Given: there is no mention to any culture.
2- Yes: exaggerates the sounds certained in words.
3- No: unconsciously with babies.

[DanhTran]

1.Not given
2.Yes
3.No

[Luna]

no; yes; not given

[Euphemia]

no:"universal";
yes;
no:"unconsciously".

[Ngoc Ninh]

1.Not given
2.Yes
3.No

[ATITI]

1.no apparently is universal
2.yes Mothers in the study were, in effect, sounding out “super-vowels” to help their infants learn the phonetic elements of language.
3.no unconsciously

[Pachu]

Not given
Yes
No

[Ann]

1. No
Parentese [...] apparently is universal
2. Yes
parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words
3. No
We also do this unconsciously with babies

[Monica]

1. No
2. Yes
3. No

[Luyen]

1. no
2. yes
3. NG

[Bun]

1) not given
2) no
3) no

[Mo]

1: NOT GIVEN
2: YES
3: NO

[Ali Talaei]

NO
NOT GIVEN
NO

[Jacqueline]

1.no
2.yes
3.no

[SOBI]

NOT GIVEN
YES
NO

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

1. No
2. Yes
3. No

[Allen]

1. no
2. Yes
3. Nort given

[Shaza]

1. No
2. Yes
3. No

[he li]

1.No
2.Yes
3.No

I think the reason why some people think the answer to the first question is "Not Given" is that they just complicate their own thinking on it.

[Jigna]

@ he li

I think you are right.... overthinking I guess.

[Melvina]

No
Yes
No

[Long]

Not Given
Yes
No
need help : I have trouble in distinguish between Not given and Yes or No.

[Maria]

No
Yes
Not given

[Nancy asiedu berchie]

Not given
Yes
No

[Sammy]

1. Not given
2. Yes
- parentese is characterised by "over-articulation" that exaggerates the sounds contained in words
3. No
- We also do this "unconsciously" with babies, giving them an improved verbal signal they can capitalise on by slowing down and over articulating

[TANKEN]

1. not given
2. yes
3. no

[Donson]

No
Yes
Not given

[Anam]

no
yes
no

[Astronomer]

No
Yes
Not Given

[Abdul Lotif]

NO
YES
NOT GIVEN

[Arpan Shah]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Not given

[Saman Deol]

1.no
2.yes
3.not given

[Sita Thapa]

No, yes, ng

[Long]

List of hobbies that remained consistant
- Popular sports: football, tennis, swimming, etc.
- Music
- Travelling

Interests influenced by trend and influencing factor:
- Selfie - social network
- Surfing the internet - developments of internet
- Learning Spanish - Despacito song

[LISA]

not given
yes
no

[O.Berk]

no
yes
no

[Sue]

1.No
- Universal meaning is that something that is universal relates to everyone in the world or everyone in a particular group or society.

2.Yes
- over-emphasize = over articulation, drawn-out

3.No
- Adults are aware that <-> unconsciously

[Parviz]

1) No
Parentese, ..... people use to communicate with babies, apparently is UNIVERSAL and plays
2) Yes
Mothers …………., in effect, SOUNDING OUT “super-vowels” to help their ......

3)No
We also do this UNCONSCIOUSLY with babies, ……………………

[Fang]

Yes
Not Given
No

[Fang]

No
Not Given
No

[rosie]

no
yes
no

[Daniela Costa]

no
yes
no