Current Areas of Research

Word learning in typically developing toddlers

Most children learn words effortlessly. As adults we marvel at how quickly and easily this seems to occur. By contrast, children who are late to talk, struggle to learn words. We know that typically developing children tap into cues in their environment in order to learn words. Some of these cues might be hand movements or gestures that we use when we talk, as well as how we pronounce or say the words.

We would like to find out whether typically developing 2 ½ - 3 year old children, who are learning to speak Australian English only, can learn new words given different types of cues.

This project is being conducted by Dr. Natalie Munro, Dr. Elise Baker, Dr. Kimberley Docking and Dr. Joanne Arciuli. This study is part of our collaboration with researchers at The University of Iowa, USA. Click here to find out more about this collaboration.

Reading skills in children with SLI

Dr Joanne Arciuli and Dr Natalie Munro are investigating the spoken and written language skills of school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment (5-12 years who speak English at home and attend a mainstream school).

This study will help our understanding of speaking, listening and reading skills in children with SLI and the underlying processes involved in these important communication skills.

We are currently seeking participants for this study. For more information about this study and contact details, click here

Find out more about Dr Arciuli’s Psycholinguistic Research Lab.

Speech Sound Acquisition and Disorders in Children

Dr Elise Baker has a series of projects on the topic of speech sound acquisition and disorders in children. In collaboration with Dr Sharynne McLeod Elise is examining evidence-based practice (EBP) for children with speech sound disorders, and speech-language pathologists current methods of practice with children who have speech sound disorders. These projects are designed to assist speech-language pathologists with the important task of balancing the possibilities presented by research evidence with the reality of clinical practice to achieve the best possible outcomes for all the children on their caseloads in their community.

Elise is also involved in the supervision of undergraduate and higher degree research projects on the conversation skills of children who have a phonological impairment, the speech production skills of children identified as deaf a birth, the speech, language, reading and phonological processing skills of school-age children who use a cochlear implant, and the phenotype of speech sound disorders of possible genetic origin.

Children with acquired language impairments

Dr Kimberley Docking and team of investigators based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane have investigated the effects of treatment on children who have been treated for a major childhood cancer, such as brain tumour or leukaemia. This research has highlighted that radiotherapy and chemotherapy have an effect on communication skills in the developing brain that may not manifest for many years later. Research is also being conducted in the area of recovery of communication skills following a head injury in childhood. These findings show that the earlier an injury occurs during the course of development, the more at-risk a child is to experience difficulties later in childhood and in adolescence as their brain attempts to develop more advanced levels of language and communication (eg. metaphors, jokes, double-meanings etc.). Outcomes from this research will assist Speech Pathologists and clinical teams to more clearly anticipate the difficulties each individual child may encounter before they occur, and to reduce the impact this may have on educational and social functioning, and later vocational potential.

The quality of word learning in children with SLI

Dr Natalie Munro and Dr Elise Baker have conducted a study investigating the quality of children’s word learning abilities in children with and without Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Specific Language Impairment is a developmental communication disorder that occurs despite normal hearing, normal nonverbal intelligence and the absence of any frank, neurological condition. Children with SLI struggle to use spoken language skills and are at risk of literacy difficulties. Learning words is a fundamental skill for spoken and written communication. The project’s outcomes are currently being written for publication.

Emergent literacy in children with speech and language impairments

Dr Natalie Munro and Dr Elise Baker investigated the relative merits of parent-implemented and clinician-led interventions that focused on vocabulary and phonological awareness skills in preschool and early school-aged children with specific language impairment.

Some of the outcomes from this project have been published and presented at conferences. See Natalie's grants and publications webpage. Reports on additional outcomes are in preparation.