Work

The impact of baby sign on vocabulary development

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Baby sign programs aim to support communication between parents and preverbal infants bypairing signs with spoken words. This study addresses a notable gap in the literature by evaluatingthe large-scale impact of baby sign on both lexical development and caregiver behavior. Using anonline questionnaire in 1,348 typically developing, French hearing children (50% female) aged10–28 months, 723 children exposed to baby sign at home were compared with 625 non-exposedpeers. After controlling for socioeconomic status and parent–child activities, results revealed weakto no effect of baby sign on vocabulary development or caregiver behavior. These findings suggestthat while baby sign is not detrimental to vocabulary development, it does not enhance spokenvocabulary as often claimed.

Source: First Language

DOI: 10.1177/01427237251409434

Authors: Vanessa Bertussi, Marie-Julie Ravanas, Isabelle Dautriche

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille Université, Centre de Recherche en Psychologie et Neurosciences

Language: English

Topic: Language Development and Disorders

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,650