Research carried out by the Kent Child Development Unit at the University of Kent has found that five-year-olds often make mistakes when they are learning new words for actions.
Kirsten Abbot-Smith, a lecturer in developmental psychology who led the research, said the findings were surprising. 'We know from other studies that by the age of two, children can use the order of words and word endings, such as "ing", to help work out the meanings of new words for actions, at least when the objects involved are familiar.'
Around 100 five-year-olds were split into four study groups to examine the mechanisms children use to learn words. A researcher described a film clip to the children using a made-up phrase such as 'she is blicking it', making it clear that 'blicking' referred to the action, not the object, for example a woman headbutting a bamboo candle holder on to a table.
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