Participants
Your child is invited to participate in research at the Child Language Lab and contribute to our understanding of children's language development. Please see below a list of our current studies. Contact the listed researcher for each study to sign up or to find out more.
If your child is not eligible to participate in any of our current studies, please consider signing up to our Child Language Research Club and mailing list, so that you can be contacted by researchers to participate in future studies as they become available.
Studies currently recruiting
'Heart' not 'Hut': Learning words that sound similar
Age range: 23-24-month-olds who have parents born in Australia and who speak English at home
This study will help us understand when children develop fine-grained knowledge about English words and sounds categories. The findings will help inform our understanding about atypical language development delay.
To register your interest or for more information, please contact Dr Nan Xu Rattanasone
Understanding words like 'and'
Age range: 4- and 5-year-olds who speak English at home
This study investigates how young children understand and produce complex sentences. We are interested in the underlying structure of various types of sentences that contain the word and. We can conjoin complete sentences as in somebody ate rice and somebody ate beans, or smaller phrases as in somebody ate rice and beans, but they mean different things for adults. We are interested in finding out whether or not children and adults understand sentences of this kind in the same way or not.
To register your interest or for more information, please contact Andy Morrison
Understanding sentences with multiple logical expressions
Age range: 4 - 6-year-olds who speak English at home
We are interested in how children understand sentences that contain words known as logical expressions. These logical expressions are words like or, not, and every. We are interested in finding out how English-speaking children understand complex sentences with all three logical expressions together in one sentence, such as Not every student will choose an apple or a banana. We are also interested in finding out whether children have the same interpretation of these complex sentences as adults.
To register your interest or for more information, please contact Zhu Xie
When can we say the 'ba' in banana?
Age range: We need 2-year-old and 5-year-old children who speak English at home!
Together with our international collaborators, we are examining how children learn to say syllables that are difficult for them to pronounce, and how they perceive these sounds when they hear them in spoken form. Typically developing children have short-lived difficulties with these syllables, but for children with hearing loss, the challenges can persist until age 10. To help children with hearing loss it is invaluable we understand how typically developing children overcome this stage.
Register your interest or for more information, please contact Margaret Ryan
You can also contact us (ling.cll@mq.edu.au) if you have any questions or would like to know more about our current studies.
For face-to-face studies, the Child Language Lab has protocols in line with Macquarie University's COVIDSafe plan. If you would like to participate in face-to-face studies, we will contact you to provide more details. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you would like more details or have any questions.
Some reasons to participate
- Participation can be a fun activity for school holidays!
- Have fun! Kids have a great time and often want to come back for other studies or to do other studies online.
- Help advance research in the critical area of child language development
- Assist with research that will provide better outcomes for children's communication skills (e.g., for children with hearing loss)
- Be reimbursed for your time (usually a gift card and small gift for your child)
Hear from a parent
"I'm glad that I am able to help researchers advance their studies. I've learnt about different aspects of child language development and now notice little things about the language development of my children."
"Most of all, they enjoy all the activities every time they are here. They have fun watching interesting videos and playing with toys. I plan it like a day out. We'll go somewhere after the session and I will buy them a special gift with the gift card."
- Rhonda P from Sydney
"An incredible experience for my kids!
Margaret and the research team at Macquarie University were fantastic. They were professionals, who demonstrated a keen interest in their research and treated my children with the utmost respect.
The facilities were wonderful with a waiting room full of toys and an option to watch the whole process behind a one way mirror. The stickers and prizes given to my children during their participation helped me to feel secure knowing that they were having a wonderful time. The activities are seen as fun games and my children looked forward to attending the sessions. It felt great knowing that we were a part of an important cause and the gift vouchers were just an added bonus."
- Nicole
Content owner: Department of Linguistics Last updated: 27 Jun 2024 3:45pm