First words: Baby talk

Listening to what babies actually say rather than assuming we know what interests them can be an eye-opener, says Dr Bill Gillham What do children want to talk about when they start to speak? Surely the answers seem so obvious that it's hardly worth asking the question. But questioning the 'obvious' is often an important first step in research. In the mid-1970s I was at Nottingham University developing a 'first words' language programme to help children who had...