Methodology
We have followed the
language-learning journey of two age-cohorts of children.
“Cohort A” were approximately 20 months old in January
2005 and “Cohort B” were approximately 36 months old in
January 2005.
Each child in the study was
video-recorded for approximately 45 minutes once every two weeks.
In this way, over time, we obtain regular hour-long
“snapshots” of their linguistic progress. Our
Methodology section will tell you more about actual procedure. By
“naturalistic,” we mean that the children are
video-recorded in a natural setting -- at home, or playing in a
familiar area. We don’t administer any language tests to the
children -- this study merely follows the natural development of
each child’s language skills, each learning at his or her own
pace, until the child has “acquired” the adult Cree
grammar.
