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of children who were not as advanced.

-- Most language training for children came from mothers, with mothers

(both working and stay-at-home) accounting for 78 percent of total

talk.

-- Mothers talked more to daughters than they did to sons.

-- Parents talked more to first-born children than to children who

followed in the birth order.

-- Most adult talk between parent and child occurred in the late

afternoon and early evening.

Infoture used revolutionary technology to develop a system that measures the quality of a child's natural language environment and language development through the number of words and conversational turns. Named LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis), this device is now available to parents for tracking words and conversational turns with their children. The LENA feedback reports help parents improve a child's cumulative language experience and accelerate that child's language, cognitive development and preparedness for school.

Jill Gilkerson, Ph.D., director of language research for Infoture, helped author the Power of Talk study. "Most parents want to provide outstanding language environments for their children -- but they have no way of knowing what level of language input their children are receiving. They are not aware of inconsistencies and low-talk times during a day or week," said Gilkerson. "With LENA, parents can make educated choices based on real information and not on guesswork. And that means they have one less thing to worry about. In fact, the LENA reports might be compared to food journals that dieters keep, because the perception of how much a person eats (or in this case, talks) is often far different from the reality."

"Talk is for everyone," added Mia Moe, director of marketing for Infoture. "A solid foundation in language advances a child's potential and future academic success, regardless of soci
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