Project Abstract
We are in the planning stages of conducting a nationwide study of the early language development of children living in New Zealand. Any parent having a child between the ages of 16 and 30 months will have the opportunity to complete a simple on-line questionnaire about the kinds of words their child understands and uses. For children who are saying more than one word at a time, there will be additional questions about their use of sentences. The study will make use of the New Zealand MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences, developed by Elaine Reese and Stephanie Read at the University of Otago (Journal of Child Language, 27, 255-266, 2000). The CDI has been adapted to 60 languages and dialects around the world and this will be the first time it will be used in New Zealand to establish national norms. Having such norms will provide teachers, early childhood educators, speech-language therapists and researchers with a unique picture of the early language development of children living in New Zealand. Future plans include developing a new version of the CDI for use with children as young as 8 months of age.
If you are interested in participating, contact us and we will provide further information and answer your questions.
