Understanding Slow Word Learning in Children: Research Findings

Children with larger vocabularies look directly and quickly toward an object when learning new words, while those with smaller vocabularies look back and forth between objects and have a slower response time. Researchers say that their findings could help identify children with delays in language development at an earlier stage, allowing for earlier support to build their vocabulary before starting school. The study involved 66 children aged between 17 and 31 months and found that children who can say more words quickly looked towards objects that were the same shape as a named object.