Prestigious grant for baby talk research

25 Apr 2014

University awarded £9 million for child language centre

The University has secured one of the largest grants ever awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The £9 million cash injection over five years will see a new ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD) set up to deliver crucial information needed to design effective interventions in child healthcare, communicative development and early years’ education.

The Centre, a partnership between Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster universities, will also develop new technological products for parents, including a Babytalk app, which will allow parents and health professionals to record a child’s vocabulary and monitor their progress.

Centre Director Professor Elena Lieven, from the School of Psychological Sciences, said: “This Centre will transform our understanding of the way that children learn to communicate with language. It will provide the evidence base necessary to develop successful interventions for children at risk of language delay.”