Recent I-LABS research explores the unique characteristics bilingual caregiver speech. Consonant length was measured in infant-directed versus adult-directed speech in monolingual and bilingual caregivers. Both groups exaggerated consonants when speaking to their infants, though different patterns were noted across consonant type and language context. Also, consonant length in bilingual caregiver speech varied by language proficiency. The findings of this study study show that dual language-learning infants experience a more complex linguistic environment than their monolingual peers, which may have implications for speech perception and later production.
