CDRF Conducts Baseline Survey on Language Development for "China REACH" Senburi Pilot
On July 7-12, 2023, in order to assess the effects of the "China REACH" pilot
in promoting children's language development, China Development Research
Foundation (CDRF) conducted a baseline survey at Senburi Ecological Relocation
Site in Shannan, Xizang. Coordinated by CDRF and organized by the Xizang
Autonomous Region Maternal and Child Health Association, the survey was carried
out by research team from Tsinghua University's Institute of Education, and
supported by the headquarters of Senburi Ecological Relocation Site.
To ensure the accuracy of the research, the survey team first conducted
training on child language assessment for the home visitors of Senburi pilot.
The team then divided into two groups and conducted home visits for the children
in the first and second phases of the Senburi pilot and the control group
respectively.
The baseline survey on children's language development involved questionnaire
surveys on 201 families and interviews with more than 40 project families. The
survey was designed to learn the current level of Standard Chinese of local
families and children, and to collect data and information on children's
language development.
The "China REACH" Senburi pilot project was launched in September 2021. As
the first project of CDRF to be carried out in an ecological relocation site in
a high-altitude area of Xizang, and also a unique high-altitude child
development intervention project, the pilot project has significant value in
policy making and academic research.
In addition to the regular home visits, CDRF has also incorporated a language
enhancement module in Senburi using picture books and reading pens as the medium
of Standard Chinese learning. This survey has laid a solid foundation for the
scientific evaluation of the effects of "China REACH" on Standard Chinese
learning, and has effectively supplemented the research in relevant field. Based
on the results of the survey, CDRF will continue to improve the program's
interventions to help children in areas with concentrations of ethnic minorities
develop to their full potential.
