Infants’ Contributions to Prelinguistic Conversations Drive Language Learning

Infants engage in conversations with caregivers using facial expressions and body language, gaze, vocalizations, and gestures. These cues quickly become more complex and combine within the first year. Caregivers respond intuitively to infants’ shifting communication cues, and these responses shape infants’ language learning. These interaction processes are affected by caregiving context and culture. Practitioners can support caregivers by acknowledging their intuitive responses, and encouraging intentional use of selective silence, simplifications, and sensitive scaffolding.