Language Development

Language is a uniquely human, complex communication system that is learnt, apparently effortlessly, in the first few years of a child’s life. Our goal is to discover more about how children achieve this. We build, develop, and test process models and theories that address the central question of first language acquisition: How do children’s learning mechanisms exploit information in different environments to build mature linguistic knowledge?

In our Language in the Brain theme, we use data from multiple-methods - corpus data, behavioural experimental data, and neurological data – to test different theories of the cognitive mechanisms that underpin children’s language development. In Language across the World, we assess whether our theories of language development can account for the pattern of development across different languages being learned in different cultural and multicultural environments. In our Language over Development theme, we use multiple measures from the same children studied at different ages to test our ability to predict development over time.

Across all themes, studies take place with children of all ages, and with adults. For recruiting and testing, we are part of the Baby and Child Research Centre at the Radboud University.

For more information, including an up-to-date publication list, please see our website.