Welcome to the NatSIP Website

This website offers access to a wealth of SI resources, most of which are now freely available.  We encourage you to register on the site for full access to everything we have to offer.  Registration is free, and open to anyone.  A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.

Preschool Language and Literacy project for deaf children

Colleagues at City, University of London are seeking help to recruit deaf children to participate in their exciting new study looking at early language and emerging reading (Preschool Language and Literacy study). The study is being run by Dr Fiona Kyle, Prof Ros Herman, Dr Katie Mason and Indie Beedie at City, University of London. The main aim is to understand how preschool language and emerging literacy skills are related to later reading ability.

 

They are looking for deaf children who are 3 and 4 years old, use spoken language, and have no significant additional educational needs.  They are keen for the sample to be as representative as possible and include deaf children in mainstream nurseries as well as those in units attached to schools. Please feel free to distribute this information widely.

The researchers will investigate whether they can predict which children are at risk for literacy difficulties from their preschool language and phonological (understanding the sounds of spoken language) skills. Some hearing children and many deaf children find learning to read challenging. It is therefore important to identify children who may struggle with reading BEFORE they start learning to read. Early identification will help ensure that children who need it have appropriate support as they begin learning to read.

They are conducting a two-year longitudinal study following a group of preschool hearing and deaf children who use spoken language. They will assess them on a range of tasks measuring language, phonological and grammatical skills. The research team will administer these tests over three sort session each lasting 20 minutes. They will then re-asses them in reception and year one. All assessments are very child-friendly and children are enjoying completing them.

If you are a parent, teacher, or other professional who would like their child or nursery to take part, or if you are looking for more information about the project, please contact:

Dr Katie Mason and Indie Beedie

Division of Language & Communication Science

School of Health Sciences

City, University of London

Northampton Square

London EC1V 0HB

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: 020 7040 0414

You can go to the website for further details www.ladder-lab.com or you can follow us on Twitter for research updates @LADDER_Lab