README file for Data Collection "Infant-directed speech and language development at 9, 15 and 21 months"

This data collection is the product of the ESRC project "The role of baby-talk words in early language development" (ES/J023825/1, PI: Mitsuhio Ota, University of Edinburgh).


The data collection contains:

1. Audio-recordings of naturalistic speech addressed to infants as well as their inventory of words when they were 9, 15 and 21 months of age. A total of 526 WAV files collected from 30 infants who have given us consent to release the original recordings are included, organised by the infant's pseudonym and age. These files were too large to be uploaded online, and therefore have been sent by post to Anca Vlad, UK Data Archive at the University of Essex.

2. A spreadsheet (.xlsx) recording the parental responses to a vocabulary development questionnaire (UK CDI) completed at each data collection point.

3. A copy of the UK CDI form used to collected #2 above. This version of the UK CDI is slightly modified to include words commonly used in Scotland (e.g., 'bairns', 'dinnae') as well as specific word forms (e.g., 'doggy' as opposed to 'dog').

4. Copies of the consent forms completed by the parents of the infants. The first consent form only asked for sharing of fully anonymised data. This form was completed by all 47 families who participated in the project. As the unedited recordings contain information that may disclose some personal information (e.g., the mother calling the infant by their real name), a second consent form was sent out to obtain permission for submission to UK data service, and 30 families have consented to the sharing of the original recording in this format.

Submitter's contact information:

Dr Mitsuhiko Ota
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
University of Edinburgh
3 Charles Street
Edinburgh EH8 9AD
mits@ling.ed.ac.uk
0131 650 3949