The Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) Project seeks to broaden and deepen our scientific understanding of language development by providing new ways of analyzing real world face-to-face interactions. The computational tools that had been developed in the previous phases of the project constitute the primary methodological basis for new empirical research on the development of spontaneous use of a first language. This work has resulted in over 6000 published articles examining all aspects of language development, including word learning, sound learning, grammatical development, and communicative development. All of the programs and data sets are provided over the web without charge to researchers. The database that has been collected using these tools is now the largest spoken language database available anywhere. However, we can achieve still greater efficiency and analytic precision by building even more powerful computational tools. The next phase of this project will develop new techniques to support analytic methods in the study of language development. These methods include rapid computer-assisted transcription of interactions, automatic analysis of words into their component parts, automatic linkage of words into syntactic structures, a simple user interface for searches, methods for analyzing links between speech and gesture, web-based support for collaborative commentary between research groups, construction of standard comparison group norms, and methods for moving data between different programs for alternative analyses. In addition, we will promote the use of these programs by constructing new web-based tutorials, a new user interface, linking to other databases, and conducting workshops and presentations at conferences.

Public Health Relevance

To help children with language delays and disorders, we need to understand the basic facts about language learning. The CHILDES project does this by allowing rapid searching for developmental patterns across a large database of transcripts from children learning language. These tools can also be applied to other health-related areas, including the study of adult language disorders, such as aphasia, TBI, AD, and dysarthria.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD082736-12
Application #
8902240
Study Section
Language and Communication Study Section (LCOM)
Program Officer
Alvarez, Ruben P
Project Start
2007-05-01
Project End
2019-05-31
Budget Start
2015-06-01
Budget End
2016-05-31
Support Year
12
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
052184116
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213