Research | GCLL | Dalhousie

Accent Comprehension

Does Positive Information About a Speaker Influence Children's Accent Comprehension?

We are excited to invite your child(ren) aged 4 years old or 6 years old to participate in an online study looking at how information on a speakers helpfulness, known as prosocial behaviours, influences children's accent comprehension. This study is open to families who reside in Canada. To thank you for your participation and support, each participating family will receive a $10 CAD Amazon Gift Card.

Who are the researchers working on this project?

Dr. Drew Weatherhead

Assistant professor, Dalhousie University

Madison MacLachlan

MSc/PhD student in Clinical Psychology, Dalhousie University

Interested in participating?
If you're interested in taking part please use our calendar link to book yourself into one of the available time slots. You will receive an email confirming the date and time of your appointment, and detailing further steps to be completed before your appointment.

What do you need to take part?

This study involves your child watching a series of videos. To participate, you will need:

A stable internet connection.
A device that connects to the internet and can be used for video conferencing such as a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet. Devices must have the ability to record video (i.e., a camera) as well as audio input and output. Some devices have these abilities built in while others require the addition of a webcam or a microphone. For better visual experience, we do not recommend using smart phones.
A quiet space in your home where you will not be interrupted and anything distracting on the computer desk/table is removed

Want to know more?

More information about the study and what you and your child will be asked to do can be found below in our FAQ section below along with a copy of the consent form that you will be asked to complete online once a date and time has been confirmed.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the study or need assistance with scheduling an appointment, please email us at GCLL@dal.ca and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you have any ethical comments, questions, or concerns, please reach out to the lead researcher at Madison.MacLachlan@dal.ca

FAQ

What will this study contribute?
Canadian children learn language in a socially (e.g., race and ethnicity) and linguistically (e.g., accents) diverse environment. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of prosocial behaviours on preschoolers' ability to understand and learn from people who speak differently than them. This will help psychologists, educators, and policy makers better understand how social information influences Canadian children's language development in a diverse racial, cultural, and linguistic setting.

Who can take part?
Children between the ages of 4 and 6 years old are eligible to participate.

What will you be asked to do?
Once you have completed the demographic surveys, read the instructions, and completed the debrief, the entire session will take approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Your willingness to participate and/or to allow your child to take part in this study is voluntary and you or your child may withdraw from the study at any time. Your child will meet with a researcher over a video call and will see videos, pictures, and listen to a story about imaginary characters with a unique language and accent. They will be asked questions about what they heard and how they view the characters. We think that children who hear positive facts about the characters (i.e., if they are helpful and friendly) will better understand the characters' accent and learn new words from them compared to those who hear negative or neutral facts. However, this is a new kind of study and any results may be possible!

Who will your child work with?
Dr. Drew Weatherhead will be conducting the study with assistance from graduate student Madison MacLachlan and undergraduate research assistants Rebeka Workye, Yara Yazbek and Emma Tupper. The primary researchers have experience working with and conducting research with children, and all individuals listed above have undergone Criminal and Vulnerable Record checks, as well as a Child Abuse Registry check.

What will we do with the information?
Once collected, data will not be linked directly to participant names or birth dates, except through an ID number on a separate, encrypted and password-protected spreadsheets, to which only the primary researchers will have access. Findings from the study will be shared as the results of all participants combined and will be published in scientific journals, educational conferences, and on our labs social media. Additionally, you have the choice of receiving a letter with a summary of our findings for the group as a whole.

For more detailed information about the study, feel free to download and view our consent form by clicking the red pdf icon.

Consent Form.pdf