The Toddler Language Project
The following information was provided by the .
If you have a child who is, or who will be, age two before the end of this year, and you are interested in having him/her participate in an educational research project that is documenting language acquisition in young children, and offers significant benefits for your child, please contact us.
The study will be conducted as part of a larger effort to understand how quickly and adeptly children with varying home languages (English, Spanish, German, Mandarin, and others) who are immersed in Mandarin for 3 to 8 hours per day, in a play-based toddler curriculum, acquire and use the Mandarin language. We are also interested in other long term cognitive and social benefits that accrue from being bilingual or multilingual.
This is a long term project, and parents who complete the project and would like to continue their child’s literacy in Mandarin will receive assistance in Kindergarten enrollment in public and private schools which offer dual language programs. (Most children will have acquired fluency, and be at a competitive advantage for these programs.)
If you are interested, please be clear, this is not an opportunity for free childcare services. In fact, parents must pay most of the tuition cost. However, a portion of the tuition will be subsidized by the study. And of course, it is an opportunity for your child to acquire a second language, in a quality nursery school environment, and have an advantage in the NYC elementary school application process.
We are forming a class of 10 full-time children and a few part-time children, and will conduct interviews on a first come, first serve basis beginning this month. For parents who have pending commitments for the fall, we will do our best to expedite the process.
To express your interest, or for more information see the links below, or contact: Dr. Gail Foster at ge23@tc.columbia.edu
