​The Children's Vocabulary Project

The Children's Vocabulary Project is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Our goal is to advance understanding of the word learning problems associated with developmental language disorder (DLD).

• Children with DLD have difficulty learning new words in "incidental" contexts where they hear the new word, but no direct instruction is provided. They do better when they are given direct instruction, but still not as well as their peers.
• Children with DLD have difficulty learning from text, whether they are listening or reading it themselves.
• At least in the early stages of learning a word, the form of the word—its sounds and the sequence of those sounds—tends to be harder for children with DLD to learn than what the word refers to.
• One way to improve word learning is to separate the word from the thing that it names. For example, we taught children with DLD and those with typical language development the names of aliens, and they learned the names (word forms) better if we said the name before or after we showed them the alien (what the word names/picture) than when we said the name and showed the alien at the same time.
• Another way to help children with DLD learn words is to have them practice retrieving and saying the word. Active practice (saying the word) is more useful than passive study (listening to the word).

In the current stage of the Children's Vocabulary Project, we are investigating two questions:

• Not all children with DLD find word learning to be hard. We hypothesize that children who are more vigilant in maintaining attention to spoken messages are able to compensate for their word-learning problems.
• DLD is not only a problem with word learning; it affects other aspects of language. We hypothesize that word-learning problems cascade to impede other aspects of language processing, such as sentence comprehension.

• Are parents allowed to sit in the research van during the study?
  • Yes, parents are encouraged to remain in the research van during visits. Audio is recorded during all research visits for safety and accuracy.

• What will parents learn about their child’s development?
  • Parents will learn about their child’s language development.

• I have some concerns about my child’s communication with other kids. Are they a candidate for the study?
  • Yes, your child may qualify for the study. Your child will work with a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP). The SLP may provide guidance on next steps to take.

• My child has good language and communication skills, can they still participate?
  • Yes. We are seeking children with a broad range of communication abilities.

• How will I receive compensation?
  • You’ll receive an e-gift card delivered directly to your email from Amazon or Tango after you’ve completed the study.

• Can siblings participate?
  • Yes, our study involves two parts, so we may enroll two siblings if they both qualify. If there are more than two, we are happy to direct you to other study opportunities.

• Is this study still looking for participants?
  • Yes! We are always looking for participants for our research studies. Please email our team if you are interested in participating.