New Grant Opens Doors to Language Research
The MU School of health professions is about to take a strong step forward in children language research thanks to a new grant. The school is conducting a study that will track the development of children ability to use cues when learning new words. The schools department chair, Judith Goodman, is conducting the research with MU doctoral student Kathy Brady.
Brady’s experience with the study has given her a new found appreciation for how hard it is for children to learn new words at an early age.
“When we are talking about what the word means we are really looking at how they make the connection between the sound and the object that the sound refers to,” Brady said. “There is a body of research that gives us an idea of what kinds of cues children use.”
The research is being funded by a $2000 grant from the American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation and is one of only two grants awarded nationally.
“This would take us another step further beginning to combine variables and beginning to look at how children handle the cascade of information that they’re faced with as they hear speech around them.” Goodman said. “The research that we are doing is taking baby steps to understand the best of both these worlds.”
Brady and Goodman will conduct additional participant studies and hope to have results of the study ready by March.
Mid-Missouri’s Safety Net Under Increased Pressure
As Missouri’s unemployment rate continues to rise, Mid-Missouri non-profit organizations are gearing up for an increase in need. Although it is barely a month into 2009, some Mid-Missouri non-profits have seen a significant increase in need from last year.
Non-profit directors like Major K. Kendall Mathews, Columbia and Jefferson City’s Regional Coordinator for the Salvation Army, recognize how hard it is for people to get by right now in the wake of a struggling economy.
“We see that people are coming to us really, really desperate,” Mathews said. “Some of them on the verge of loosing their jobs, and some of them are just having a difficult time making ends meat.”
The Red Cross has also noticed a change in need. The organization’s Executive Director Mike Odneal says he will continue to provide support regardless of the funds that come in from donations.
“As far as the services we provide, we will continue to do whatever we can and whatever it takes to continue to provide the emergency services we’ve always provided,” says Odneal. “If donations continue to downtrend, we can just minimize the amount of services that we provide to people who have disasters, but typically we will do whatever we can do regardless of the funds and the situation that we have.”
Mid-Missouri non-profits are continuing to encourage people to donate when possible.
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