Speech Perception

Hearing infants learn language through the speech signal they encounter in their environment. Understanding how they perceive speech thus holds the key to understanding language acquisition. The current chapter overviews some of the most important classical results on young infants’ speech perception abilities, then focuses on three areas, prenatal experience, perceptual narrowing and critical periods, where recent breakthroughs are transforming our understanding. The chapter discusses how perceptual abilities support the acquisition of the grammar and vocabulary of the native language(s).