Since 1983, members of the Child Language Research Group
have actively pursued a scientific agenda designed to
evaluate the effects of services to young children with
impaired communication systems. During this period,
faculty and student-initiated research have covered a
wide range of topics, including parent-child
interactions, phonologic generalization, factors
contributing to word learning and lexical access, and
the impact of early speech delays on later language
development and overall academic performance. The
results of these studies have shaped a specific program
of
 research that now involves collaborative and
interdisciplinary inquiry into emerging literacy in
preschoolers and the efficacy of early intervention
approaches and their long-term effects on learning.
The clinically-based programs at the USC Speech and
Hearing Research Center, coupled with cooperative
arrangements with various public schools, Head Start
programs, and community clinics, have provided a
participant base to sustain this research agenda.
Supported, in part, by 19 years of federal funding, the
Center’s specialty clinics, which together comprise the
USC Early Language Programs, include the Early Language
Preschool, Parent Program, Child Phonology Clinic, and
Pediatric Language Groups.
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