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The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614086467944448 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Nortje, Mariette |
| author2 | Southwood, Frenette |
| author_browse | Nortje, Mariette Southwood, Frenette |
| author_facet | Southwood, Frenette Nortje, Mariette |
| author_sort | Nortje, Mariette |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/131869 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:46:25.318Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/131869 The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers Nortje, Mariette Southwood, Frenette Brookes, Heather Southwood, Frenette, 1971- Brookes, Heather, 1963- Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics. Language acquisition Toddlers -- South Africa -- Language Toddlers -- Vocabulary -- Development Verbal ability in children UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It can be said that children’s first words form the foundation of language development, literacy, learning and experiencing life. We use words to organise our thoughts, emotions, and experiences and to interact with those around us. Although children seem to acquire language without intervention, many children are at risk of language disorders or delays. Vocabulary is important, as it has been shown to affect a child’s ability to speak, read, write, think, acquire numeracy skills, process and express emotions, connect socially and even affect their mental health and employment. Therefore, tools are needed with which to evaluate the vocabularies of young children to identify those at risk. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDIs) have been established as reliable and valid parent reporting instruments to assess children’s language development from 8 to 37 months. The South African Child Language Development Node adapted linguistically and culturally equivalent Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) for all 11 official spoken languages in an effort to create appropriate early child language norms for our contexts. Consequently, the first systematic research into early language development of South African children, using these parent reports, was made possible. The present study explored two of the first SA-CDI data sets to learn more about the size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of 75 South African English- (SAE) and 113 Afrikaans-speaking toddlers aged 16 to 32 months. The aim was to enhance our knowledge regarding monolingual child first language acquisition in South Africa, especially since languages in the Global South are understudied. The results show that the SAE- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers had a steady and significant increase in word production as age increased, across all ages, despite large individual differences. At 30 months, the median expressive vocabulary size of SAE-speaking children (526 words) and those of Afrikaans-speaking children (475 words) were within the range reported by other studies (360-630 words). Afrikaans-speaking females had significantly larger vocabularies than their male peers across all ages but there was no significant sex advantage amongst the SAE group. Ecological setting was relevant as the urban Afrikaans-speaking participants had significantly larger vocabularies than their rural peers. As expected, based on other studies’ findings, the concepts presented by the most prevalent words produced by all participants related to familiar people, toys, sounds, routines, animals and body parts. The SAE-speaking participants, however, had more words for toys and animals and fewer for people than their Afrikaans peers. As in other languages, all participants produced more words related to concrete entities (like people and body parts), than those related to abstract concepts (like time and placement). Both languages showed a noun bias in their lexicon, although the Afrikaans-speaking children started using more verbs at a younger age than their SAE-speaking peers. The comparison of lexicons between sexes also yielded qualitative differences in both languages. The study adds value as the first systematic cross-linguistic comparison of male and female participants representing this age group, acquiring Afrikaans and this variety of English. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar kan gesê word dat kinders se eerste woorde die grondslag vorm van hul taalontwikkeling, geletterdheid, leervermoë en lewenservaring. Ons gebruik woorde om ons gedagtes, emosies en ervarings te organiseer en om te kommunikeer. Alhoewel dit lyk asof kinders taal sonder ingryping aanleer, loop baie kinders die risiko van taalversteurings of -vertragings. Studies het getoon dat woordeskat belangrik is aangesien dit 'n kind se vermoë om te praat, lees, skryf, dink; syfervaardighede aan te leer; emosies te verwerk en uit te druk; sosiaal in te skakel; en selfs hul geestesgesondheid en werkvermoë beïnvloed. Meetinstrumente is daarom noodsaaklik om die woordeskat van jong kinders te assesseer en in te gryp indien nodig. Die MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI's) is ontwikkel as betroubare en geldige ouerverslae om kinders se taalontwikkeling van 8 tot 37 maande te assesseer. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Kindertaalontwikkelingspan het linguisties- en kultureelekwivalente Kommunikatiewe-ontwikkelingsinventarisse vir al 11 amptelike gesproke tale ontwikkel in 'n poging om gepaste vroeëkindertaalontwikkelingsnorme vir ons kontekste te skep. Dit het die eerste sistematiese navorsing oor vroeë taalontwikkeling van Suid-Afrikaanse kinders, met behulp van hierdie ouerverslae, moontlik gemaak. Die huidige studie het twee datastelle van die eerste inventarisse verken om meer te leer oor die grootte en samestelling van die ekspressiewe woordeskat van 75 Suid-Afrikaanse Engels- (SAE) en 113 Afrikaanssprekende peuters van 16 tot 32 maande. Die doel was om kennis rakende eentalige kindertaalverwerwing in Suid-Afrika te verbeter, veral aangesien tale van die sogenaamde Globale Suide min bestudeer word. Die resultate toon dat die SAE- en Afrikaanssprekende peuters 'n bestendige en beduidende toename in woordproduksie gehad het namate hul ouderdom toegeneem het, ten spyte van groot individuele verskille. Op 30 maande was die mediaan ekspressiewe woordeskatgrootte van SAE-sprekende kinders (526 woorde) en dié van Afrikaanssprekende kinders (475 woorde) binne die omvang wat deur ander studies gerapporteer is (360-630 woorde). Afrikaanssprekende vroulike peuters het ‘n beduidend groter woordeskat as die manlike peuters gehad op alle ouderdomme, maar daar was geen beduidende geslagsvoordeel in die SAE-groep nie. Ekologiese ligging was relevant aangesien die stedelike Afrikaanssprekende peuters ‘n beduidend groter woordeskat as hul plattelandse eweknieë gehad het. Soos verwag is, gebaseer op die bevindinge van ander studies het die konsepte wat verteenwoordig word deur die mees algemene woorde van alle deelnemers, verband gehou met mense wat aan hulle bekend is, speelgoed, klanke, roetines, diere en liggaamsdele. Die SAE-sprekende peuters het egter meer woorde gehad vir speelgoed en diere, en minder woorde vir mense as die Afrikaanse peuters. Soos in ander tale het al die deelnemers meer woorde gebruik wat met konkrete entiteite (soos mense en liggaamsdele) verband hou as met abstrakte konsepte (soos tyd en posisie). Albei tale het 'n selfstandige naamwoord-vooroordeel in hul leksikon getoon, hoewel die Afrikaanssprekende peuters op 'n jonger ouderdom meer werkwoorde as hul SAE-sprekende eweknieë begin gebruik het. Die vergelyking van leksikons tussen geslagte het ook kwalitatiewe verskille in albei tale opgelewer. Die studie het waarde as die eerste sistematiese kruislinguistiese vergelyking van manlike en vroulike peuters wat Afrikaans en hierdie weergawe van Engels verwerf. Masters 2025-04-04T08:53:26Z 2025-04-04T08:53:26Z 2024-12 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/131869 en Stellenbosch University xiii, 158 pages : illustrations, includes annexures application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Language acquisition Toddlers -- South Africa -- Language Toddlers -- Vocabulary -- Development Verbal ability in children UCTD Nortje, Mariette The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title | The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title_full | The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title_fullStr | The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title_full_unstemmed | The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title_short | The size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual South African English- and Afrikaans-speaking toddlers |
| title_sort | size and composition of the expressive vocabularies of monolingual south african english and afrikaans speaking toddlers |
| topic | Language acquisition Toddlers -- South Africa -- Language Toddlers -- Vocabulary -- Development Verbal ability in children UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/131869 |
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