Environment Theme

Which information sources in the child’s environment contribute to language learning?

Theme leads: Prof Padraic Monaghan and Prof Gert Westermann, Lancaster University

Children do not learn language in a vacuum. They learn with many sources of information around them: such as visual, auditory, or social cues. Some cues help language learning, others may impede the process. Research under our environment theme explored how information is integrated from these multiple sources. There were four research projects under this theme:

• Vision and Language
• Integrating visual and semantic cues with language learning
• Social Cues and Word Learning
• Cues for Language Learning Tasks

 

Impact

Our research under the Environment Theme has enabled us to:

• Advise nurseries on how to best design children’s environments to promote learning.
• Determine the point at which children are “ready to learn”.
• Understand the implications of insensitivity to visual, auditory, or social cues for language learning.

Download our Environment Theme Flyer for more information.