Establishing proficient communication skills in early childhood provides a critical foundation for social and emotional development and for subsequent academic achievement. The vast individual differences in early language skills that emerge in the context of children's families, cultures, and communities are important because of their long-term implications for children's school readiness and subsequent adaptation.
The goal of the planning grant is to bring multidisciplinary perspectives to bear on the causes and consequences of individual differences in early language development. Some aspects of language are particularly fragile, particularly vulnerable to deprived conditions. Decades of excellent research within individual disciplines, including psychology, education, linguistics, family ecology, medicine, genetics, nursing, and speech and language science have described early language development. However, the explanations of processes that are emerging necessarily cross disciplinary boundaries (Chapman, 2000). Each discipline uses different theoretical frameworks, different vocabularies, and asks different questions.
The ecological and developmental framework that will guide this research will bring together the perspectives of the various disciplines of 16 faculty scholars from Michigan State University. The planning process will (a) build the multidisciplinary context for the work through sessions with nationally prominent visiting scholars and (b) through planning sessions focused on development of a Center for the Study of the Ecology of Early Language Development. (c) The effort will integrate the domains of biology, family, culture, and community through research clusters that work to refine and integrate their science, with a focus on assessments, research designs, sampling strategies, and pilot research. During the planning period, (d) linkages will be strengthened with other research institutes and departments at MSU and with other Michigan institutions of higher education, particularly community colleges that provide certificates and degrees in early childhood education. (e) A Community Forum will solicit information about early language development from a broad coalition of Michigan partners. (f) Dissemination linkages are already in place with MSU Extension, collaborations with the state networks for child care and Head Start, the human service planning groups in each county, and the 53 Intermediate School Districts. (g) Policy linkages are in place with the Michigan legislative Children's Caucus, the state departments addressing social services, community health, and education, and several state level advocacy organizations. (h) A National Advisory Committee and a Community Advisory Committee will be assembled.
The Institute for Children, Youth, and Families (ICYF), within the College of Human Ecology at Michigan State University, has a 30-year history of multidisciplinary research and outreach that serves as the foundation for this proposal. The research on the ecology of early language development will explicitly link to MSU's 10-year-old multidisciplinary Interdepartmental Graduate Specialization in Infant Studies. It will also link to MSU multidisciplinary graduate training programs in applied developmental science, cognitive science and neuroscience.
