How little kids learn their languages: Developing an evidence base for young children learning Aboriginal languages in central Australia
Background: There is little evidence about how children learn to communicate in traditional Aboriginal languages in central Australia. Research-informed resources to help health and education professionals better understand children’s paths of language development are needed.
Aim: To develop research-informed, accessible tools and resources for families and health and education professionals about children’s language development in central Australian Aboriginal languages. To develop a tool to track early vocabulary development.
Method/approach: We recorded interactions between adults and children in 26 families. We transcribed, translated, and analysed the recordings and created a corpus and a suite of tools and resources from this. Ethical approval was received from the Central Australian and Australian National University Human Research Ethics Committees.
Results/findings: We developed a free, local online audiovisual tool, the Little Kids’ Word List, and posters and animations that describe research findings in accessible formats. Families interact using embodied speech and hand signs and several languages, and support children’s language development in many ways consistent with research across the world, and in local, culturally-specific ways.
Conclusion: Families support child language development in ways consistent with worldwide research and in culturally-specific ways. Multilingualism supports connections to country and culture. The Little Kids’ Word List allows children’s language strengths to be documented, even if clinicians do not know the local languages.
Implications for children and families: You can use the Little Kids’ Word List to see the words your child can say and understand in several of your family’s languages. You can see how families support children’s language development in the posters and animations.
Implications for practitioners: You can assess children’s language development fairly in the languages they speak at home. You can better understand how families interact with young children from the animations and posters.
Funding: Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (#FT190100243 Tracking early language, gesture and sign development of children speaking Aboriginal languages in Central Australia). Australian National University Futures Scheme Award.
Keywords: Central Australia Indigenous languages, assessment, acquisition, development, vocabulary, interaction
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: