Early Lexical and Grammatical Development of Xitsonga Spoken in Giyani, Limpopo Using the Adapted Xitsonga MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Toddlers Form A Preliminary Study
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: Speech-language pathologists have limited culturally and linguistically relevant clinical assessments and normative data to draw on when working with African language speakers in South Africa. This limitation impacts on the early identification of children with language difficulties, essential for ensuring appropriate and timely support for such children and their families. The challenge of early identification is even more pronounced for children acquiring a minority language such as Xitsonga. Xitsonga is one of South Africa's official languages, yet relatively little is known about children's acquisition of this language. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to describe the early lexical and grammar development of Xitsonga-speaking children, aged 16 to 32 months. The study objectives were to describe 1) the outcomes of the adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MB-CDI) for Xitsonga speakers 2) the relationship between age and vocabulary size 3) the trends and patterns of vocabulary growth and grammar development and 4) the development of mean length of utterance in this population. Methods: The study used a mixed methods approach. For Phase one, a parentreport tool, the MB-CDI, was cross-culturally adapted for Xitsonga. Phase two was a pilot study where the first draft of the Xitsonga MB-CDI was administered to 43 caregivers of monolingual Xitsonga-speaking children aged 16 to 32 months in the Giyani region of South Africa's Limpopo Province. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations were used to determine the lexical and grammatical items included in the main study. Phase three was the administration of the adapted Xitsonga MB-CDI with a larger sample (n=99) of caregivers of monolingual Xitsonga-speaking children aged 16 to 32 months residing in the Giyani region, who had not already participated in the pilot study. Vocabulary sizes, compositions, and morphosyntactic productions were outlined using descriptive …
abstract: Background: Speech-language pathologists have limited culturally and linguistically relevant clinical assessments and normative data to draw on when working with African language speakers in South Africa. This limitation impacts on the early identification of children with language difficulties, essential for ensuring appropriate and timely support for such children and their families. The challenge of early identification is even more pronounced for children acquiring a minority language such as Xitsonga. Xitsonga is one of South Africa's official languages, yet relatively little is known about children's acquisition of this language. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to describe the early lexical and grammar development of Xitsonga-speaking children, aged 16 to 32 months. The study objectives were to describe 1) the outcomes of the adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MB-CDI) for Xitsonga speakers 2) the relationship between age and vocabulary size 3) the trends and patterns of vocabulary growth and grammar development and 4) the development of mean length of utterance in this population. Methods: The study used a mixed methods approach. For Phase one, a parentreport tool, the MB-CDI, was cross-culturally adapted for Xitsonga. Phase two was a pilot study where the first draft of the Xitsonga MB-CDI was administered to 43 caregivers of monolingual Xitsonga-speaking children aged 16 to 32 months in the Giyani region of South Africa's Limpopo Province. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations were used to determine the lexical and grammatical items included in the main study. Phase three was the administration of the adapted Xitsonga MB-CDI with a larger sample (n=99) of caregivers of monolingual Xitsonga-speaking children aged 16 to 32 months residing in the Giyani region, who had not already participated in the pilot study. Vocabulary sizes, compositions, and morphosyntactic productions were outlined using descriptive …
author: Ndhambi, Mikateko
keywords: Medicine
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:57Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

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property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40931