Looking for Gaelic-speaking children to take part in research

January 22, 2021 by

A research team from the University of Edinburgh is looking at how bilingual children learn Gaelic and English and which areas of the languages are hard for them. The project is investigating how children in Gaelic-medium education (GME) in Scotland learn Gaelic in order to identify areas of difficulty for children with typical development and for those at risk of language impairment in these schools.

The study is looking to recruit children from Primary 2 to Primary 5 with typical development or whose parents, teachers and/or Additional Support Needs Co-ordinators (ASNCOs) have expressed concerns about their language development in their dominant language (be it English or Gaelic). The study is being conducted online by video conference during a time suitable for parents and children.

Read the letter to parents in Gaelic and English here (pdf)

Share the project flyer (pdf)

This work is led by Dr Vicky Chondrogianni, our Bilingualism Matters Edinburgh Programme Director for Bilingual Development and Developmental Language Disorders.

If you would like to take part, or would like more information, please contact Catriona crennie2@ed.ac.uk

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Research participants wanted: German-English bilingual adults

May 16, 2016 by

Researchers are looking for native German speakers with a high command of English to take part in an ultrasound study. [Read more…]

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Research participants wanted: Italian-English bilinguals

May 2, 2016 by

Scientists working on the EU funded AThEME project are looking to recruit Italian-English bilingual adults for their research into how people process multiple languages. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News and events, Research participation Tagged With: ,

Research participants wanted: Dutch-English bilingual families living in Edinburgh

April 29, 2016 by

Researchers studying child language development in Edinburgh are looking for families raising their children in Dutch and English to participate in their new study.

Study background

We are a group of researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Radboud University in the Netherlands. We are conducting a joint research project on bilingual children growing up with English and Dutch. This project aims to understand how patterns of exposure influence language development in children with two languages in their environment.

Children growing up with two languages are usually stronger in one language than the other. This is called language dominance. This is perfectly normal and often a consequence of the circumstances under which the child has contact with the languages in question.

In this project, we’re interested in finding out how to measure language dominance, to what extent patterns of language dominance are indeed related to the circumstances under which children acquire their two languages, and, more generally, how much contact a child needs with two languages in order to learn them both successfully.

Participant requirements

We are looking for children who are aged between 2 years and 4 years 11 months old, hear Dutch from one or both parents/caregivers, and have normal hearing and no known language impairment.

What’s involved?

  • Two sessions at home or at the University of Edinburgh Developmental lab (7 George Square). One session will take place in English with an English-speaking researcher and one session will take place in Dutch with a Dutch-speaking researcher.
  • Children will participate in a number of language ‘games’ with a research assistant (approximately 30 mins).
  • We will also video-record a 30-minute interaction between the child and parent playing together.
  • The Dutch-speaking parent will have a brief chat with the research assistant about the child’s language background, exposure and use (between 20 and 30 minutes; this could be arranged on a separate occasion, if preferred).
  • All results will be kept anonymous and treated confidentially. Video recordings will only be accessible to project members.
  • The study has received ethical approval from the University of Edinburgh ethics committee.

How to participate?

For further information or to sign up, please email Dr Barbora Skarabela or call the researchers on 0131 6504020.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

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Research participants wanted: Italian-English bilinguals

January 26, 2016 by

Scientists working on the EU funded AThEME project are looking to recruit Italian-English bilingual adults for their research into how people process multiple languages.

Participant requirements

  • native speakers of Italian (i.e., since you were born)
  • have lived in Scotland or other English speaking country for at least the past three years
  • aged between 18 – 40 inclusive
  • have no history of hearing or language impairment
  • do not wear contact lenses. If you wear glasses, please specify what type of lenses you use in your contact e-mail.

Take part in the study

In this experiment, participants will take part an eye-tracking experiment at the computer (a small camera will measure your eye movements as you look at the screen), together with a test and a questionnaire.

Testing takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes and takes place at the University of Edinburgh’s Psychology Building (7 George Square, central campus).

Participants will be paid £12 (cash payment) in return for contributing to this research.

Testing will take place throughout February. For further information or to register your interest in taking part, please contact lead researcher Michela Bonfieni

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Research participants wanted: Multilingual speakers of British English

July 7, 2015 by

Scientists working on the EU funded AThEME project are looking to recruit multilingual speakers of British English for their research into how people process multiple languages.

Participant requirements

  • native speakers of British English (i.e., since you were born)
  • have a native, or near native knowledge of one or more other languages, or have been exposed to one or more other language since childhood
  • aged between 18 – 30 inclusive
  • have no history of hearing or language impairment

Take part in the study

In this experiment, participants will play a picture game on the computer and will be asked to answer some questions.

Testing takes 1 hour and 20 minutes and takes place at the University of Edinburgh’s Psychology Building (7 George Square, central campus).

Participants will be paid £8 (cash payment) in return for contributing to this research.

Testing will take place throughout July. For further information or to register your interest in taking part, please contact lead researcher Michela Bonfieni

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