Adopted babies can remember their birth language

In a collaborative international study, involving the  Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, researchers have discovered that early language learning in children adopted internationally can be subconsciously retained, even when they can no longer remember the learning experience. This means that even in the very early months of life, useful language knowledge is laid down and stored in an infant's memory.

The study investigated the language learning abilities of 29 Korean-born Dutch speakers, and a control group of 29 native Dutch-speakers.

During a 12 day training period, the adoptees were asked to identify three Korean consonants, unknown in the Dutch language, and then try to reproduce them.

All of the spoken productions collected in the experiment were then rated by Korean listeners.

Adoptees pronunciation scores improved significantly more across the training period than the scores of control participants.

Media issued by Western Sydney University and ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language.