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Research
Risk factors for low receptive vocabulary abilities in the preschool and early school years in the longitudinal study of Australian childrenReceptive vocabulary development is a component of the human language system that emerges in the first year of life and is characterised by onward expansion...
Research
Late language emergence in 24-month-old twins: Heritable and increased risk for late language emergence in twinsThis study investigated the etiology of late language emergence (LLE) in 24-month-old twins, considering possible twinning, zygosity, gender, and...
Research
Associations between Handedness and Cerebral Lateralisation for Language: A Comparison of Three Measures in ChildrenIt has been suggested that quantitative measures of differential hand skill or reaching preference may provide more valid measures than traditional...
Research
Aragung buraay: culture, identity and positive futures for Australian children: Dharawal language: aragung = shield for war, protection; buraay = childFiona Pete Stanley Azzopardi FAA FASSA MSc MD FFPHM FAFPHM FRACP FRANZCOG HonDSc HonDUniv HonFRACGP HonMD HonFRCPCH HonLLB (honoris causa) PhD, FRACP
Research
How we measure language skills of children at scale: A call to move beyond domain-specific tests as a proxy for languageThe aim of this research note is to encourage child language researchers and clinicians to give careful consideration to the use of domain-specific tests as a proxy for language; particularly in the context of large-scale studies and for the identification of language disorder in clinical practice.
News & Events
Rethink needed on literacy interventionA new study by The Kids Research Institute Australia has found current early intervention programs are failing to identify a large proportion of children with language an
News & Events
Reading books boosts child languageA new study provides more evidence that reading books to young children and helping them visually to follow the story improves a child's language.
Research
The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective studyThe idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.
Research
The oral and written narrative language skills of adolescent students in youth detention and the impact of language disorderUnmet language and literacy needs are common among young people who are involved with youth justice systems. However, there is limited research regarding the functional text-level language skills of this population with regard to narrative macrostructure (story grammar) and microstructure (semantics and syntax) elements. In this study, we examined macrostructure and microstructure elements in the oral and written narrative texts of 24 adolescent students of a youth detention centre. The students, who were aged 14- to 17- years, were all speakers of Standard Australian English, and 11 (46%) students met criteria for language disorder (LD).
Research
Do Children with Specific Language Impairment have a Cognitive Profile Reminiscent of Autism? A Review of the LiteratureThis paper reviews relevant literature on whether individuals with SLI exhibit cognitive characteristics reminiscent of autism.