Sensitive windows of oral and written language development using natural speech measures

Language is vital for communication and learning, and serves as a catalyst for later academic success and wellbeing. In current practice, diagnosing children with oral and/or written language difficulties is based on a ‘wait-to-fail’ approach, in which children are diagnosed only after years of language or reading problems. The first years are the most influential for language development, and identification of language problems at this early stage of life is pivotal to prevent later difficulties. This project represents the first, large-scale longitudinal study of language development from infancy to Grade 2. Leveraging the expertise of our consortium in language and reading development, speech recognition and computational modeling, the project aims to identify sensitive windows across the full developmental language pathway, that is, key periods in which a specific language skill (e.g. speech sound representations) has a large impact on the development of other components (e.g. vocabulary acquisition and learning to read). Through a new approach to characterize language development and environment via natural speech, this project will provide individualized predictions for the child and model dynamics between language development and language environment, thereby paving the way for a new era of language research and practice.