The Little Kids’ Word List is a vocabulary assessment tool and a guide for health and education professionals in conversation with families, to better understand the vocabulary development of children.

This is an authorised adaptation of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) for Eastern & Central Arrernte, Western Arrarnta, Warlpiri, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja and varieties of English spoken in Central Australia. Adapted with the permission of the CDI Advisory Board, 2022.

The word list was developed with input from 22 families in Central Australia, and has been trialed with 20+ families. Health and education professionals should exercise caution when making decisions based on the word list.

The word list was developed as part of the ARC Future Fellowship project FT190100243 Tracking language development of Indigenous children in Central Australia, awarded to Carmel O’Shannessy, Australian National University.

To learn more, please visit https://little-kids-learning-languages.net/