This project is about the kinds of words, sounds and grammatical patterns children in First Nations families in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and central Australia learn, and the ways that children talk together with their families.
We asked families which words they use with their children. We recorded families talking about picture books and playing with toys. We made the Little Kids’ Word List so that families can show the words their children know at different ages.
We asked families to play some games about sounds, to show the sound patterns their children are learning.
We published research and made information posters to let people know about the research.
The project is an ARC Future Fellowship project ‘Tracking language development of Indigenous children in Central Australia’, funded by the ARC and ANU. It aims to identify the language development paths of Indigenous children in Central Australia by examining the spoken language, sign and gesture of children’s early interactions.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet and which our team members belong to: Arrernte, Warlpiri, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja and Ngunnawal peoples.
Who is in the project?
Aboriginal researchers at
Tangentyere Research Hub: Vanessa Davis and Denise Foster
Community researchers (formerly from Red Dust Role Models): Jessie Bartlett and Alice Nelson
Research and/or speakers of words in the Little Kids’ Word List app: Kumalie Riley, Vanessa Davis Napaljarri, Denise Foster Peltharre, Jessie Bartlett Nungarrayi, Alice Nelson Napurrurla, Kumalie Riley Kngwarraye, Sylvanna Kenny, Anne Jack, Daphne Nyaningu, Katrina Tjitayi, Makinti Minutjukur, Rebecca Defina, Lorraine King Napurrurla. App development: Spinifex Valley (spinifexvalley.com.au)
Research team leader Carmel O’Shannessy, and Jennifer Green, Rikke Bundgaard-Nielsen, Yizhou Wang, Denise Angelo, Shubo Li, Ashleigh Jones
Summer Scholars at the Australian National University: Bronwyn Wood, Nic Mezrani, Emily Gilchrist, Larissa Shihoff, Natalie Parker
Sarah Greet, Josh Roberts
With thanks to: Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Desert Therapy, Flynn Drive Community Health Centre, NT Department of Education, NPY Women’s Council, Children’s Ground, Charles Darwin University, Batchelor Institute, University of Melbourne, Lavinia Heffernan Napaltjarri, Jennifer Green, James Gray.
With collaboration with
Central Australia Aboriginal Congress
Batchelor Institute Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics
Ketyeye akweke angkentye akaltye-irreme | Kurdu-kurdu kuja kalu yimi pina-jarrimi 