How do children develop in different cultural and linguistic settings? What are the universal, language-specific, cultural-specific patterns their development exhibits? How can this development be fostered or enhanced in cases of typical, delayed and atypical development? What are the underlying causes of delayed and atypical development and how to best address the child’s and family’s needs? How to distinguish between delayed, atypical and cultural-specific development?

Here are some of the issues that Yeled V’Yalda Multilingual Development and Education Research Institute is seeking to address. The heart of the YVYMDE Research Institute is the Yeled V’Yalda Early Childhood Education Center (http://www.yeled.org/) (2005 Outstanding Early Childhood Program Awards granted by the New York State Education Department Office of School Improvement and Community Services), one of the two largest Head Start Programs in New York City. Its population totals over 2,000 children representing an unsurpassed cross-section of languages and cultures in the US. This offers the institute an opportunity to pioneer assessment, intervention, and rehabilitation tools that will meet the needs of these children, their families and the health and education professionals who serve them while answering fundamental theoretical and empirical issues about child development and education that will serve all children.

Areas:
1. Cross-linguistic, bilingual and multilingual development
2. Speech, reading and writing- different writing systems and alphabets
3. Early childhood education, intervention and rehabilitation
4. School age intervention and rehabilitation
5. Families and their communities
6. Typical, delayed and atypical physical and cognitive development
7. Assessment, diagnostic, intervention and rehabilitation
8. Link between theoretical research and implications for education, intervention and rehabilitation.

2. DIRECTORS

Isabelle Barrière, PhD.
Dr Barrière has received interdisciplinary training in developmental psychology of language, education and neuropsychology at the University of London (UK), Toulouse University (France), the Child Neuropsychology Unit at the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris (France) and Johns Hopkins University. Her research has been supported by European (e.g. UK ESRC) and American grant-giving organizations (e.g. NSF) and disseminated in the peer-reviewed literature. It focuses on the acquisition of different languages; bilingual development; early literacy; typical and impaired development; intervention and the link between theoretical research and education policies and clinical interventions. Dr Barriere is currently developing assessment tools in little researched languages used by YvY children and investigating the comprehension of word-combinations by toddlers exposed to different languages.
Tel: 718 290 4666 Fax: 718 871 9421 e-mail: ibarriere@yeled.org

CV [IBCVpdf]

Garey V. Ellis, M.D.
Dr Ellis received his BSc in Psychology and Biology from Brooklyn College and his Medical Degree from Ross University School of Medicine. His multi-faceted contributions to community health and education have been rewarded by many prizes including the Vernal G. Cave Humanitarian Award and the Martin Luther King’s Fulfilling the Dream Award. Dr Ellis’s areas of expertise include wellness education, health policy, public health, the prevention and treatment of attention and memory disorders, eating disorders and the enhancement of the teaching of scientific subjects. Before joining YvY, Dr Ellis served as the Medical Adviser to the Commissioner of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr Ellis has helped YvY plan several new initiatives to tackle important community issues such as asthma, diabetes and obesity.
Tel: 718 809 9571 Fax: 718 871 9421 e-mail: gellis@yeled.org

3 Projects

3.1 IN-HOUSE PROJECTS

The adaptation of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory- Words & Sentences- to Yiddish
Principal Investigator: Dr. I. Barrière
Co-Investigator: S. Frenkel, CCC.SLP, G.V.Ellis, MD, M. Sputz, MS, SAS, L. Hirth, CCC.SLP
Consultant: H. Lubinsky, CCC. SLP, R. Zeller, CCC. SLP, PhD
Research assistants: M. Shapiro, H. Eisner, C. Rosenberg, E. Rosenfeld, R. Bemcheboum, R.Hauben
• Official exclusive adaptation of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MBCDI) to Yiddish granted by the MBCDI board
• Initiative praised by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Program Monitoring and Quality Improvement Early Intervention Program Review 2006
MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/cdi/

3.2 NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

ON-GOING FUNDING

2007-2008 Early Childhood Interfaces: Analyses of Demographic, Cognitive, Socio-emotional, Linguistic, Behavioral, Educational and Medical data collected on YvY population (> 2,000 low SES children aged 0 to 5, using more than 15 languages, > 10% with Individualized Education Plan) in 2006-2007.
Principal Investigator: Dr. I. Barrière, YvY Research Institute
Co-Principal Investigators: Prof. G. Martohardjono, RISLUS and Department of Linguistics, CUNY Graduate Center and G. V. Ellis, Yeled v’Yalda Research Institute
Research Assistant: Tomonori Nagano, Graduate Student in Computational Linguistics, CUNY Graduate Center
Funded by RISLUS (Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society), CUNY Graduate Center

2005-2009
The nature of first word combinations: insights from the comprehension and production of subject-verb agreement and tense-marking by native French-speaking children
Principal Investigator: Prof. G. Legendre, PhD, Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. I. Barrière, YvY Research Institute
Co-Investigator: Dr. T. Nazzi, CNRS laboratory Cognition & Development, Paris, France
National Science Foundation grant- Division of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences- Linguistics Program and Office of International Science and Engineering:
Amount: $300,000 Award number: 0446954
Acquiring one's native language is a tremendous achievement. Most 3 year olds already exhibit both a solid understanding of the linguistic exchanges that surround them, and also, within the limits set by their expanding vocabulary, a significant ability to express themselves in that language. Four main questions arise: How do they get to this point? Where do they start? Do they exhibit the same patterns in production (the forms they use) and comprehension (the forms they understand)? How much is tied to the particular grammatical properties of the language they are acquiring? Few non-contradictory answers exist, in large part because of the notorious difficulty of testing linguistic comprehension in very young children. With funding from the Linguistics Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering, Dr. Geraldine Legendre and Dr. Isabelle Barriere will seek answers to these and other related questions using recently developed non-invasive experimental methods. Based on measuring the duration of gazing at short videos paired with short audio descriptions that match or do not match the videos, these methods have been used to test linguistic comprehension in very young children acquiring English. The research team will apply such methods to the testing of children acquiring French, a language which has a richer system of marking tense, person, and gender distinctions than English. This novel study of comprehension in young children from a cross-linguistic perspective will inform the debate on, and attempt to resolve contradictory claims pertaining to, first language acquisition. Broader impacts include advancing the diagnostic of atypical linguistic development by establishing a benchmark for both typical production and comprehension, creating research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students at Johns Hopkins University, and fostering scientific dialogue with research communities abroad.

Link to Johns Hopkins language acquisition lab: http://www.cog.jhu.edu/acqlab/
Link to Geraldine Legendre homepage: http://www.cog.jhu.edu/faculty/legendre/index.htm
Link to Johns Hopkins Department of Cognitive Science: http://www.cog.jhu.edu/
Link to Thierry Nazzi homepage: http://www.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/recherch/labo_cog/Personnel/ThierryNazzi.htm

3.3 PARTNERSHIPS

CURRENT PROJECT
The development of adjective concord in Spanish-speaking children with or without specific language impairment
Principal Investigator: Dr. P. Royle, University of Montreal
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. P. Gordon, Teachers College University of Columbia, Dr. Daniel Valois, University of Montreal
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Abstract:
Noun-Phrases Are Part of the Building Blocks of Language. This research on the acquisition of adjective agreement studies the capacity of the young children to produce complex noun phrases (for example the small red balloon). We aim to collect data on the acquisition of this structure in Spanish-speaking children with and without language impairment.
Learning Spanish Involves Learning Gender Agreement in the Noun Phrase. In Spanish, adjectives and other elements of the noun phrase must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun. Thus, ‘red car’ is carro rojo (masculine) but ‘red frog’ is rana roja (feminine). Children produce these structures at young ages. We can gain a better understanding of how children acquire agreement by studying agreement in the noun phrase.
What Can Children with Language Impairment Do? What Is Difficult? The study of this structure in language-impaired children will inform us on the differences between normal and impaired development of this structure. Previous studies using play situations have shown some difficulties producing correct gender in Spanish-speaking children with language impairment. However, this study will systematically test this question.
This Study Will Help us Understand the Acquisition of Other Languages. We will compare the abilities of children acquiring Spanish to those obtained in French-speaking children who are participating in a similar project conducted by the same investigators in Montreal, Canada. This cross-linguistic comparison will allow us to address issues regarding the relationship between language form and ease of acquisition of linguistic structures.
Studies of Early Acquisition Help Us Understand Important Steps in Development. Since pre-school age is a critical period for linguistic development, it is essential to identify language learning problems as soon as possible. Presently, very few standardized tools exist for the evaluation of language acquisition of Spanish-speaking children. Clinical evaluation tools could allow speech-language pathologists to evaluate children at risk for speech and language disorders. This study will eventually lead to the creation of better evaluation tools.

4 Dissemination

4.1 REGIONAL, NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

Barrière, I., Martohardjono, G. & Ellis, G.V. (May 2008) Languages and Pre-literacy skills in low-income preschoolers in New York City. Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society Annual Forum.

Barrière, I. (February 2008) Effects of the quantitative aspects of the input on bilingual development and their clinical implications: insights from the acquisition of Yiddish and English, NYU Departemnt of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology.

Barrière, I. (November 2007) The factors that determine morphosyntactic development in monolinguals and bilinguals: insights from different languages, modalities and learners. Bilingualism/Language acquisition laboratory meetings, Department of Linguistics, MIT.

Barrière, I. (October 2007) Les facteurs qui déterminent le développement morphosyntaxique chez les bilingues. CHU Ste Justine Research Center Mother and Child University Hospital Center. Université de Montréal.

Barrière, I. (October 2007) L’acquisition de l’accord sujet-verbe: différentes langues, différentes modalités, différents apprenants. Les Beaux midis, Ecole d’Orthophonie et d’Audiologie, Université de Montréal.

March 2008
Prof. Joel Walters of Bar lIan University visited several YVY sites and presented Bilingual Development in Young Children: Insights form Code-switching.

Lauren Swensen, MA and Dr. Letitia Naigles, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, presented Positive effects of Maternal Input on the Language Development of Children with Autism to parents of children enrolled in the YvY ABA Program.

Dr. Sharon Armon-Lotem, from the Department of English and Linguistics at Bar Ilan University, presented Distinguishing Bilingualism from Specific Language Impairment in Bilingual Children with Specific Language Impairment to the YvY therapy staff and professionals from several New York universities and non-profits.

6. POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Interested students should contact:
Dr Isabelle Barriere
Co-Director, YvY Multilingual Development & Education Research Institute & Director of Policy for Research & Education, Yeled v'Yalda Early Childhood
6002-6012 Farragut Road
Brooklyn, NY 11236
e-mail: ibarriere@yeled.org

7. CONTACT AND DIRECTIONS

Dr Isabelle Barriere
Co-Director, YvY Multilingual Development & Education Research Institute
& Director of Policy for Research & Education, Yeled v'Yalda Early Childhood Center
Tel.: (718) 209-1122, ext. 237
Fax: (718) 209-1171
e-mail: isabelle.barriere@gmail.com