Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 26, 2025
Use of a Video Scoring Anchor for Rapid Serial Assessment of Social Communication in Toddlers
Published on: March 14, 2018
A description of young children's use of Australian Aboriginal English dialect in a regional area
Gwendalyn Webb1,2, Cori Williams1
1School of Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Purpose:
Non-standard dialects, such as Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), are spoken across the globe, often by peoples from marginalised groups and communities. Speech-language pathologists in Australia need to be familiar with AAE in order to correctly and appropriately diagnose and intervene with Aboriginal clients. The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of AAE in the communication of pre-school-aged children in a regional area and to describe the features of AAE that these children used.
Method:
Interactions between early childhood educators and children were videotaped for a sample of 21 Aboriginal and 21 non-Aboriginal children. From these videos specific features of AAE were coded and analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests.
Result:
The communication of the sample of Aboriginal children differed significantly from that of the non-Aboriginal children. Several features of AAE were identified within this cohort, including: cluster reduction, zero use of /h/ and zero use of copula.
Conclusion:
Differences in dialect exist in the communication of pre-school-aged children in regional areas of Australia. It is important for educators and health professionals to be aware of the features of AAE dialect so they can support Aboriginal children in their learning journey.
More Related Videos
09:09Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
Published on: September 27, 2024
10:11Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism
Published on: December 14, 2012
Related Concept Videos
01:22Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
01:12Regional Terms
Primarily, the human body has two major regions, the axial and appendicular regions. The axial region comprises regions from the head to the abdomen and makes up the central body axis. In contrast,...
01:24Components of Language
01:16Language
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
01:22Vygotsky's Cognitive Development in Cultural Context
01:10Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...