New UK based language tool to decode ’baby talk’

A tool which could help identify language delays in infants in the UK is being developed by psychologists at the Universities of Liverpool, Lancaster and Lincoln. UK language experts rely upon complex methods of testing child language development, or on methods designed for American English speakers which can lead to UK babies being misdiagnosed as having a language development problem. Researchers at Liverpool and Lancaster have now been awarded more than £300,000 by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), to create the first standardised UK speech and language development tool to establish language norms for UK children aged eight months to 18 months. Language development The two-and-a-half year project will also look into the impact of family income and education on UK children's language development, as well as examining differences between children learning UK English, and other languages and English dialects. They will develop a UK Communicative Development Inventory (UK-CDI) which will consist of a checklist of a wide variety of children's communication abilities in using and understanding speech and gesture. The project is expected to make a major contribution to language development research as well as to the effectiveness of speech and language therapy and improved policy making. Caroline Rowland, from the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society , said: "We tend to take our ability to talk for granted, when in fact it is a little miracle that children learn to talk so effortlessly.