• Project status: Active
child in speech therapy session

Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS)

This study aims to learn more about how language develops from infancy (eight months) to adolescence and in particular, why language development is more difficult for some children.

Please note: The current phase of the ELVS has moved to the University of Melbourne and is no longer funded through Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. For more information please see the University of Melbourne ELVS website.

This study aims to learn more about how language develops from infancy (eight months) to adolescence and in particular, why language development is more difficult for some children.

Please note: The current phase of the ELVS has moved to the...

This study aims to learn more about how language develops from infancy (eight months) to adolescence and in particular, why language development is more difficult for some children.

Please note: The current phase of the ELVS has moved to the University of Melbourne and is no longer funded through Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. For more information please see the University of Melbourne ELVS website.

Overview

This study is internationally unique in its coverage from the first year of life and in its depth of data from multi-source informant questionnaires of:

  • direct assessment in language-related dimensions (speech, vocabulary, fluency literacy, cognition)
  • psycho-social and educational domains (social, emotional and behavioural development
  • quality of life, educational achievement, health care utilisation) and
  • linkage to nationally acquired academic achievement data.

Researchers can visit Lifecourse to view a full list of domains and measures used at each wave of the study.

ELVS was designed to better understand language development, trajectories from infancy through to middle childhood, the emergence of language difficulties, and factors that predict later outcomes. This information will be helpful in developing early intervention and prevention programs for children.

Funding

ELVS is a longitudinal study of language development in Victorian children funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The study has been approved by the Royal Children's Hospital Ethics Committee.

Frequently asked questions

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