Western Australia will lead the largest, longest and most comprehensive study of language and literacy development in the world after being awarded a prestigious international grant.
The Looking at Language study at Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has been extended for a further five years following the third successive renewal of its funding from the USA based National Institutes of Health.
The project, which began in 2002, is an international collaboration between the University of Western Australia affiliated Telethon Institute, Kansas University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The research group has followed the development of 1000 sets of West Australian twins from their first words. This extension will enable researchers to continue to monitor this group as they develop through adolescence. In addition to formal language tests, researchers have collected genetic and environmental data as well as assessments with the twins' siblings.
Principal Investigator UWA Professor Cate Taylor said the study will answer some fundamental questions about how and when children learn to talk, and what can be done to help those who struggle.
"At the moment we know that most children start to talk between 12 and 24 months, yet we have no idea why some children begin much later," Professor Taylor said.
"This is the first study that will be able to compare early language development with language ability in adolescence, when we know that language is at near-adult levels.
"If we could predict those language difficulties that were going to persist, then we could be much more focussed and helpful in providing effective early therapies for children."
Professor Taylor said she was overwhelmed by the commitment of the families involved in the study.
"By looking at twins and their families, we have an unprecedented amount of data around genetic and environmental influences on language. We will also be able to look at the effect of being a twin in how language emerges," she said.
"This type of research is only possible because hundreds of families have committed their time and energy to helping us unlock the mysteries of language.
"We are very grateful for their support and hope they are as thrilled as we are to be involved in a study of such international significance."
The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health under Award Number RO1DC05226.
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