These animations are based on our recordings of families in central Australia talking with their young children. World-wide research shows that these ways of interacting are good for the children’s language development.
In Scene 1, ‘shake hands’, a grandmother taps her grandchild gently on his back and calls his name to get his attention. She tells the child in Warlpiri how to greet a visitor and to shake hands with her, and points to the visitor. This shows using touch and her voice to get the child’s attention, and teaching the child how to communicate with visitors.
In Scene 2, an adult makes the tune of her voice go high and low, making it interesting for the young child. This is part of ‘baby talk’ style. It gets and keeps the child’s attention, and teaches him that talking is interesting and engaging.
In Scene 3, a grandmother names the characters in a picture book with kinship names and points to each character as she names them. This helps the child to learn the specific Arrernte words, and to be engaged in the pictures and with what the adult is saying. It teaches the child that books can connect to him and his family.
In Scene 4, an adult holds up a toy and asks the children what it is. A child says ‘bush bus!’. The adult repeats what the child says, using adult-style speech, and the other child repeats to. This teaches the children that toys and talking at home can be linked to our wider real world experiences.
In scene 5, a grandmother uses the hand sign ‘NOTHING’ when talking to her grandchild. This refers to a picture in the picture book where a monster is not present. Children and adults use hand signs and gestures as well as speech in everyday communication. The adult models how to speak as if the character in the story was speaking, saying ‘go away’ in Arrernte. This helps the child connect to the story.
In Scene 6, a child hears a bird and points up at it. His mother follows him and also points at the bird. The mother comments to another adult that her son correctly noticed the bird, and the two adults name the bird in baby talk style in Arrernte. This shows the mother following her child’s interest and noticing him exploring the world around him. It reinforces to the child that people notice things in our world and talk about them.
In Scene 7, an adult claps her hands to get a child’s attention. She says ‘five, five’ to him, saying ‘look!’, and using his skin name. They ‘give five’ and she says ‘ayii!’, making her voice interesting. When families are sitting together adults often get the children’s attention and talk to them a little. The adult uses action and speech to interact with the child, showing that communicating can be fun.
Illustrations and animations: Coolamon Creative
in Scene 8, a grandfather models how to use actions and speech to tell a story from a picture book. The child copies him, holding her arms and hands the same way and saying the same words. This helps the child to connect emotionally to the story and to learn the actions and speech to use to express an emotion response.
Ketyeye akweke angkentye akaltye-irreme | Kurdu-kurdu kuja kalu yimi pina-jarrimi 