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Josh Roberts, Vanessa Davis and Denise Foster of Tangentyere Research Hub, and Carmel O’Shannessy presented at the First Nations Languages & Health Communication Symposium on May 13, 2021, hosted by the Menzies School of Health Research. The talk, Ketyeye akweke angkantye akaltye-irreme | Kurdu-kurdu kalu yimi pina-jarrimi | Little kids learning languages reports on the method of this project: TrackingContinue reading “Talk given at First Nations Languages & Health Communication Symposium”

To find out which words little kids know and say, we do 3 things: We interview parents and ask them about the words their children know. We record parents and children talking about picture books. We record parents talking with their children when they play with toys.

We know that reading books is important, but these books don’t have any written words. Why not? Adults and children love to tell and listen to stories, and they love to talk about picture books. Using books with no written words has some advantages: Everyone can tell their own version of the story, they don’tContinue reading “Why talk about picture books?”

Baby talk, or infant-directed speech, is a way of talking to very young children that is different from how adults talk to other adults. Many cultures in the world, but not all, have a special way of talking to babies and young children. Sometimes families worry about using baby talk, because they think it willContinue reading “Is baby talk good for my baby?”

No! More people in the world speak two or more languages than one language. Learning two or more languages has lots of benefits. Young children’s brains are like amazing computers. They learn a lot very quickly. For example: At birth, babies can distinguish between two languages that are quite different, e.g. Japanese & English AtContinue reading “Will learning two languages make my child confused?”