April 2017
Science Spotlight
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Upcoming Events
Ongoing: LuCiD's 2016/17 Seminar Series Programme
Baby Sensory Lancaster at the Lancaster University Community Open Day
LuCiD 3rd Annual Language and Communicative Development Conference
Our 3rd annual conference will take place at The Storey Institute in Lancaster on 6-7 July 2017. Dr Evan Kidd, Australian National University, will give the keynote. Registration will open soon and the call for papers has already been announced.
Language Baby at the Whitworth Art Gallery
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Hear from our Researchers
How do we study language development?
Does a child’s culture and language affect how they learn to talk?
In a recent blog, LuCiD Director, Prof Elena Lieven, discusses similarities and differences in how caregivers and children interact in different cultures and how an understanding of these can provide insight into language learning. Meanwhile, LuCiD researchers, Joanna Kolak and Sonia Granlund, are involved in a study investigating word learning in languages that are structurally different from English. In a brand new blog, they explain more about their project and describe some of the adventures they had testing children in different countries.
We're the kids in America!
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Parents and Caregivers Corner
Should We Be Worried About Children's Screen-Time?
 LuCiD Director, Prof Caroline Rowland, and 80 other scientists signed an open letter addressing the need for appropriate research into the impact of screen-time on children. The authors argue more research is needed before premature conclusions are drawn. Rowland said, “parenting is a difficult enough job, but it’s made even more difficult by scaremongering stories in the media. This is why I was so pleased to put my name to this letter stating that there is no good evidence that screen-time harms our children if used sensibly. The best advice I can give parents is the common sense one – “everything in moderation”. But for more detailed evidence-based guidelines, have a look at the Media and Communications Toolkit produced by the American Academy of Paediatrics”.
Take Part in Our Research
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Resources for Practitioners and Policy Makers
Call for Your Experience of Support for SLCN
Talking About A Generation Report
The Communication Trust has launched a new report reviewing recent developments in policy and practice affecting children and young people with SLCN. The report highlights research showing that by the age of five, 75% of children who experienced poverty persistently throughout the early years are below average in language development, compared to 35% of children who never experienced poverty. It also presents worrying evidence of under identification of SLCN across health and education services. Read the Talking About A Generation Report.
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The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD) is a 5 year collaboration between the universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester. Our mission is to bring about a step change in the understanding of how children learn to communicate with language, and deliver the evidence base necessary to design effective interventions in early years’ education and healthcare. We are funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under the Centres and Large Grants Scheme (ref: ES/L008955/1). Our funding runs from September 2014 to August 2019.
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Language Baby, a joint event we organised with the 
Last autumn, two LuCiD researchers spent time in the USA, sharing their research, learning new methods and designing experiments. Read about 