The ANU Language Lab, based in the Research School of Psychology, was founded in 2012 and is headed by Associate Professor Evan Kidd. We operate within the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL).
Our research focuses on language processing and children’s language acquisition. We conduct a range of projects investigating a range of populations (e.g., infants, children, adults) and languages (e.g., English, Cantonese, German, and Finnish).
A big focus of the lab is on understanding the causes and consequences of individual differences in language acquisition and processing across the lifespan. As part of this focus we are running two longitudinal studies, the CoEDL-funded Canberra Longitudinal Child Language (CLCL) Project, and the ARC-funded Individual Differences in Language Development (IDLD) Project.
The CLCL Project follows 120+ typically-developing children from the age of 9 months to 5 years, and will document and explain how early language processing skills in infancy influence language development up until children reach primary school.
The IDLD Project follows 100+ typically-developing children through the first two years of primary school, and will investigate the role of statistical learning in later language and literacy acquisition.
Alongside the CLCL and IDLD Projects, several other studies are ongoing, including studies of grammatical development, work on symbolic play and language development, work on Australian English, and work with CoEDL members on language processing and production of Australian indigenous languages.
The lab has strong links with CoEDL partners at The University of Manchester, the University of Liverpool, Cornell University, and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
ANU Language Lab 