Periodic Reporting for period 2 - e-LADDA (Early Language Development in the Digital Age)
Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2024-02-29
Research on the impact of digital technologies on children’s communication and language development is still scarce and highly fragmented with no unitary approach across disciplines. How the ecology of the child affects the acquisition of competencies and skills has been approached from different angles in different disciplines. In linguistics, psychology and neuroscience, the central question concerns the specific role of exposure to language, while human-machine interaction investigates how different devices impact on language development. To get a better understanding of the cognitive and behavioural consequences of learning in digital ecologies, research needs to consider both the relevant features of communication agents vis a vis the channels of language transmission. At the same time, training for scientists in language learning has not been in synchrony with changes in technology and media available to learners. Current theories of language learning emphasize the role of language input and the child’s interaction with the environment as crucial to language development. The new digital reality has changed both the nature of the linguistic input provided to young children and affords new ways of interaction with communication agents (tablets, robots). Given this, we need to establish whether new digital technologies also change the way in which language is learned. If so, do digital technologies provide useful tools to enhance/optimize language learning in increasingly multi-cultural educational or therapeutic contexts? The aims of e-LADDA are 1) to provide a platform for the training of the next generation of scientists drawing for the first time on interdisciplinary perspectives from basic, applied and translational research on language learning in the digital age, 2) to provide a unified research approach to the benefits and drawbacks of digital technologies for young children’s language learning, 3) transform and develop new digital solutions that benefit learners, and 4) to provide guidance to policy makers, educators, practitioners and families in how emerging digital environments should be navigated, regulated and transformed.
e-LADDA offered career development opportunities in research skills, advanced statistical analyses, technology development skills, translational research, software ethnography and dissemination and communication skills. Training was delivered by leading experts in the field of developmental science, computer science, speech technology, robotics, language sciences, entrepreneurship and technology developers. The network organised two international conferences (Seville and Porto) with a total of 200 participants from countries in Europe, the USA , Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Colombia and Mexico. They were the first major multidisciplinary international scientific events in the field. The Round Table "Social Robots and Education" engendered a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of social robots in different educational and intervention contexts. The Conferences attracted a lot of interest from local research communities and leading international scholars who expressed admiration for the excellent achievements of the ESRs and the PIs in e-LADDA. Research in e-LADDA was organized in two complementary work packages devoted to language development in digital ecologies for typically developing children (WP1) and intervention opportunities for children with language delay and learning learning problems (WP2). The early stage researchers investigated how new technologies impact on language learning in children and what factors play a central role. Word learning skills and factors which predict success in that domain for both first and second language learning were the focus in WP1, while developing successful technology-based interventions for word learning in children with autism, hearing-impaired children and in early literacy programmes were the focus of WP2.
The ITN has significantly contributed to increased awareness in the research community of the short- and long-term consequences digital technologies may have on early language and cognitive development. Through active collaboration with technology developers as beneficiaries in the network, the ITN has created synergies between the non-academic sector and research in academia with successful two-way knowledge exchange. Research has led to bridging the gap between disciplines (psycholinguistics, psychology, developmental studies, education, robotics, social anthropology and speech technology) and the creation of innovative and dynamic networks at the European level. Main outcomes: Establishing major gaps in the evidence concerning digital ecologies and their impact on early language development in systematic/scoping reviews. The overall result of these reviews and active research conducted in the network is suggestive of a balanced reliance on digital technology in early development, supported by caregiver monitoring of child exposure to digital media. Interventions conducted during the project suggest that augmented reality and touch screens may be beneficial in word learning for typically developing children and children with autism, and that social robots do not necessarily have an advantage over hand-held/touch screen devices. The ITN equipped the next generation of researchers in the domain of digital technology and child development with an interdisciplinary set of skills in the scientific fields addressing early child development, intervention delivery and technology development, achieved by cross-network training, a varied well-designed local training offer, and active collaboration between the PIs across the network. The training has contributed to developing a new mind-set in approaching the mechanisms underlying language learning and aligning them with guiding principles for the design of technological solutions for learning (apps, social robot designs, digital media). e-LAADA included a unique novel feature which promoted ESR-led collaborative research and outputs across the network. This research was organised into three Integrated Projects targeting specific aspects of the research and impact of the network. IP1 “Gender and population-level variables in language learning and use of digital tools” collected the first cross-cultural/cross-linguistic demographic data on digital ecologies in child upbringing across European countries. Those data will provide the first detailed survey of household composition, language backgrounds, and digital media exposure for the children. Through fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, IP2 “App development and education” operationalised the latest literature on vocabulary learning and design principles of design apps for second language acquisition (L2), and developed a prototype of a vocabulary learning app. In IP3 “The pros and cons of digital technology for the human mind” the ESRs produced a comprehensive literature review of positive and negative evidence for the impact of technology on cognition and a summary document as a working guide for educators and parents. IP3 produced a science communication video for caregivers and a White paper document for policymakers and educators summarizing results from the research and guidelines on balanced use of digital technologies in education and early upbringing.