In early childhood centres, decontextualised talk is often associated with literacy activities. In this study, however, we investigated toddler-educator conversations across various activities with a focus on those about topics that were not related to the immediate context. We examined the communicative purposes and linguistic features of these…

Oral language is the primary means through which a child controls, describes, organises, and evaluates their life experiences and their ability to use oral language which effectively impacts their future literacy development. Currently, the world is awash with dynamic change and constant disruption. These include natural disasters such as the…

It is well established in Australian research and policy literature that children attending schools in regional, rural, and remote locations will benefit from access not only to experiences and interactions offered in their own communities but also to the sorts of experiences available to those in more populated areas of Australia as well. Virtual…

Many Aboriginal Australian communities are undergoing language shift from traditional Indigenous languages to contact varieties such as Kriol, an English-lexified Creole. Kriol is reportedly characterised by lexical items with highly variable phonological specifications, and variable implementation of voicing and manner contrasts in obstruents…

Children facing adversity are at greater risk of experiencing language difficulties than their peers. This study aims to examine the association between specific maternal responsive behaviours at 24 months and language outcomes at the age of 5 years in a cohort of mothers and children facing adversity. Mother-child dyads (n = 138) facing adversity…

Purpose: Language intervention for children with language disorder may be effective; however, lack of detailed and consistent terminology for describing language interventions poses barriers for advancement within the field. This study aimed to develop consensus from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Australia on a taxonomy with terminology…

This paper reports a preliminary evaluation of the [Talkable] 10-week language learning programme. This training programme aims to help caregivers provide a rich language learning environment in a child's first 3 years of life through the provision of evidence-based information and practical strategies to promote language development delivered…

In this article, we provide an overview of the last twenty years of research on Indigenous sign languages, deaf community sign languages, co-speech gesture, and multimodal communication in the Australian context. From a global perspective, research on sign languages and on the gestures that normally accompany speech has been used as the basis for…

This study investigated speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perceptions of factors that influence application of a new taxonomy with terminology for describing child language assessment and identified strategies that may facilitate use of taxonomy terminology to collect data on SLP assessment practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted…

Background: Variations in parenting, more specifically less responsive and more directive parenting, contribute to language difficulties for children experiencing adversity. Further investigation of associations between specific responsive and directive behaviours and child language is required to understand how behaviours shape language over time…

Hyper-articulation of vowel and consonant contrasts is often reported in infant-directed speech (IDS), but is not universal cross-linguistically, and may be a side-effect of speaking rate. This study investigated the voicing characteristics of the four-way oral stop voicing contrast in Nepali IDS. Both lead and lag time of word-onset/g,…

Purpose: Non-rhotic varieties of English often use /?/ insertion as a connected speech process to separate heterosyllabic V1.V2 hiatus contexts. However, there has been little research on children's development of this strategy. This study investigated whether children use /?/ insertion and, if so, whether hiatus-breaking /?/ can be considered…

The purpose of this study was to establish a set of normative data (growth curve and centiles) for the Infant Monitor of vocal Production (IMP) using a representative population of infants with typically developing hearing. A linear mixed effect model and regression was used to derive 'stage-for-age' trajectory and growth centiles from the…

English has a word-minimality requirement that all open-class lexical items must contain at least two moras of structure, forming a bimoraic foot (Hayes, 1995).Thus, a word with either a long vowel, or a short vowel and a coda consonant, satisfies this requirement. This raises the question of when and how young children might learn this…

Research evidence suggests children experiencing adversity are at risk of language disparities in early childhood. This puts these children at risk of poor language outcomes, perpetuating disadvantage in later development and academic life. This study aimed to investigate associations between Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) attendance,…