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Prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal risk factors for specific language impairment: A prospective pregnancy cohort studyAlthough genetic factors are known to play a causal role in specific language impairment (SLI), environmental factors may also be important. This study...
Research
Early vocabulary development: The importance of joint attention and parent-child book readingThe current study brought a bioecological approach to children’s early vocabulary development using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children...
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Early development of emerging and English-proficient bilingual children at school entry in an Australian population cohortChildren who enter school with limited proficiency in the language of instruction face a range of challenges in negotiating this new context, yet limited...
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Late-talking and risk for behavioral and emotional problems during childhood and adolescenceAlthough many toddlers with expressive vocabulary delay ("late talkers") present with age-appropriate language skills by the time they are of school age,...
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Centralising Local Aboriginal Language and Culture in Healthy Skin Books on the See Treat Prevent (SToP) Trial in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia: A Process and Impact InquiryLanguage is significant for communicating knowledge across cultures and generations and has the power to attribute meanings and alter our worldviews.
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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).
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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.
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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
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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
Sex-specific associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels and language delay in early childhoodPreliminary evidence suggests that prenatal testosterone exposure may be associated with language delay. However, no study has examined a large sample of...