¡¡¡¡BOSTON, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- For children between birth and age 3, the most powerful number is 30,000 -- the number of words they need to hear every day from their parents and caregivers to ensure optimal language development and academic success, regardless of socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity (Hart & Risley). These findings from the world''s largest database of parent-child language information were confirmed and expanded upon today in Boston at the annual conference for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

    Infoture, Inc., which has Scientific Advisory Board members in California, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas, is receiving international recognition for the second phase of its Natural Language Study, which confirms and expands on the well-known benchmark study by Drs. Betty Hart and Todd Risley. Their study shows that children who hear at least 30,000 words per day will thrive regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. That''s equivalent to reading Dr. Seuss'' "The Cat in the Hat" 18 and a half times.

    The latest analysis of Infoture''s language database shows a correlation between the number of hours the television is on and a decreased language environment. In essence, as television time increased, there was a statistically significant decrease in adult words spoken, conversational turns and child vocalizations.

    "I tell parents the best way to increase the speech and language skills of young children is engaging in lots of talk and lots of reading right from the start," said Judy Montgomery, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Professor of Special Education and Literacy at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and a past president of ASHA. Montgomery is also on the Infoture Scientific Advisory Board. "I remind parents to speak often, use lots of expression and describe what''s around them. It''s not educational toys, TV or videos that help a child develop language; it''s talk from an engaged caregiver."

    Conducted by a team of scientists, including language experts and speech technology engineers, the Infoture Natural Language Study (http://www.lenababy.com/Research.aspx) examines the relationship between talk and child language development. Some key findings include:

    -- Parents estimated they talked more with their children than they actually did. -- Parents of advanced children in the 90th to 99th percentile on language assessments spoke substantially more to their children than did parents of children who were not as advanced. -- Parents talked more to first-born boys than to latter-born boys. -- Parents talk the same amount to first-born and latter-born girls. -- Most language training for children came from mothers, with mothers accounting for 78 percent of total talk. -- Mothers talked more to daughters than they did to sons, while fathers talked more to sons than to daughters. -- There is a negative correlation between the number of hours the television is on and the amount of conversation in the home. -- As the amount of television time increased, the child''s language ability scores decreased. -- The negative impact of television on a child''s language development outweighed the positive effects of the mother''s education level and language ability.

    Infoture developed revolutionary technology that measures the quality of a child''s natural language environment and development by accurately estimating the number of adult words and conversational turns between adult and child. Named LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis), this system is now available to help parents enhance a child''s cumulative language experience, thereby improving their language skills, cognitive development and preparedness for school.

    "Most parents want to provide an outstanding language environment for their children -- but they have no way of knowing what level of language input their children are receiving. They are not aware of inconsistencies and low-talk times during a day or week," said Jill Gilkerson, Ph.D., Director of Language Research for Infoture and co-author of The Power of Talk. "With LENA, parents can make educated choices based on real information and not on guesswork. And that means they have one less thing to worry about. The LENA reports might be compared to food journals that dieters keep, because the perception of how much a person eats, or in this case talks, is often far different from the reality."

    "Talk is for everyone," said Mia Moe, Director of Marketing and Product Development for Infoture. "A solid foundation in language advances a child''s potential and future academic success, regardless of socioeconomic status. If we can focus on talk as the number-one priority, then all children can be successful."

    Expert tips for increasing the amount of talk with your child are available at: http://www.lenababy.com/memberresources/resources.aspx.

    For a free downloadable copy of The Power of Talk, Phase 1 of the Natural Language Study, go to: http://www.lenababy.com/Research.aspx.

    About Infoture

    Founded in 2004, Infoture, Inc. is the Boulder-based developer of LENA, (Language ENvironment Analysis system). Infoture''s goal is to help parents accelerate their child''s language, cognitive and social development by providing a means to measure their child''s language environment, and to communicate this information so parents can provide the richest language environment possible. Infoture comprises a team of world-class scientists skilled in computerized speech and speaker recognition, microelectronics, statistical research, and children''s language acquisition and development. For more information, visit http://www.lenababy.com.

    Source: Infoture, Inc.
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