University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TEN EARLY WORDS OF INFANTS AGED TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN TWI BERNICE BROWN (10602611) A RESEARCH DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL AND ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES, COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY JULY 2018 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I, BERNICE BROWN, do hereby declare that this dissertation which is being submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree in Speech and Language Therapy is the result of my research performed under supervision, and that except where otherwise other sources are acknowledged and duly referenced, this work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. I hereby permit the Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy to disseminate/publish the dissertation in any appropriate format. Authorship in such circumstances is to be jointly held between me as the first author, and the supervisors as subsequent authors. Signed ………………………………….…... Date………………… BERNICE BROWN (10602611) Signed ……………………………………… Date…………………… DR. FUSHEINI HUDU ANGULU Signed …………………….…………………. Date…………………….. NANA AKUA VICTORIA OWUSU Signed …………………….…………………. Date…………………….. DR. NEAL BOAFO (Head of Department) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION The work is dedicated to the Almighty God who has been my help in ages past. The dedication is also extended to my husband and children. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not have been possible without the encouragement and help of many people. I would like to especially thank Dr. Fusheini Angulu Hudu and Madam Nana Akua Victoria Owusu for supervising my dissertation and being extremely patient guides, helpful critics, and contributors, as well as assistants throughout the process. Thanks go to my husband, Dr Philip Ashon, for his patience and helpful suggestions. Thanks to everyone who assisted with the statistical analysis of the data. I am indebted to the many parents of the young infants who willingly provided data for my study and shared with me the fascination with which they observed their infants learn the language. I am most appreciative of Dr S. Anim-Sampong for his assistance. Thanks also go to my sons Philip and Perry, my siblings and parents for the enormous encouragement throughout my study. Last, but certainly not least, I owe my lecturers Dr N. Boafo, Josephine O. Bampoe, and Clement Amponsah of the Speech and Language Therapy department of UGSAHS and colleague students a lot of appreciation for their inspiration to undertake this project. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT Background: Children imitate, and model adult speech as noted in Skinner’s theory (Skinner, 1957) of language acquisition and so knowing what the children say and for what they say the words are important. Aim: The aim of the study is to identify ten early words expressed by infants aged 12 to 18 months born to Twi speaking parents. Method: Survey data was collected from 100 mothers each with her child aged 12 to 18 months, recruited from three towns (Obadan, Abotakye and Atuobikrom, all in the Eastern Region of Ghana) that made observations of their children. Results: The results indicated that, many of the infants’ early words were nouns (50%) Verbs accounted for 30%, adjective (10%). Interjection accounted for only (10%)., The hypothesis to test the connection between the mothers’ occupation and the early words revealed that there was no influence of the mothers’ occupation on the infants’ words. Conclusion: Knowing the early words of infants would help stakeholders who work with infants and clinicians become aware of when infants are delaying in language acquisition and provide a means of monitoring the language growth as well as early intervention strategies. Keywords: Infants, mothers, Twi, occupation, early words. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………….i DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ ..ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Error! Bookmark not defined.. TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ....................................................................................... 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY .............................................................................................. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................................................................... 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .......................................................................... CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 2.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 2.2 HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL POSITIONS ................................................ 2.3 INFANTS’ LEARNING STRATEGIES “MAP” LANGUAGE INPUT......... 2.4 USAGE-BASED THEORY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION..................... 2.5 CULTURE AND LANGUAGE………………………………………………. v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.6 BABBLING AND SPEECH PRODUCTION................................................. 2.7 EARLY WORDS SPOKEN BY INFANTS.......................................................... 2.8. TONES. ........................................................................................ …………………. 2.9. GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIZATION OF EARLY TODDLER WORDS.... CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY......................................................................... 3.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 3.2 STUDY DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 3.3 STUDY SITES .......................................................................................................... 3.4 STUDY PARTICIPATION....................................................................................... 3.5 INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA........................................... 3.5.1 Inclusion Criteria .............................................................................................. 3.5.2 Exclusion Criteria ............................................................................................. 3.6 RESEARCH MATERIALS/INSTRUMENTS............................................ 3.6.1 Developing Checklists ...................................................................................... 3.7 SAMPLING METHOD............................................................................................. 3.8 SAMPLE SIZE ......................................................................................................... 3.9 DATA COLLECTION PROCESSES........................................................... 3.10 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 3.11 DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................................................... 3.12 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................................. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS… .................................................................................... 4.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 4.2 DEMOGRAPHICS.................................................................................................... 4.3 EARLY TWI WORDS .............................................................................................. 4.4 GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDED WORDS ............................... vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.5 OTHER LANGUAGES IN CHILD'S ENVIRONMENT ......................................... CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION..................................................................................... 5.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 5.2 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS…………………………………………………… 5.2.1 TEN EARLY WORDS EXPRESSED.................................................... 5.2.2 GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDED WORDS.................. 5.2.3 CULTURE AND EARLY WORDS…………………………………………… 5.3. CLINICAL IMPLICATION……………………………………………………… 5.4. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY………...................................................... CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 6.2 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 6.5 RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... . REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................... vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Grammatical categories of words recorded............................................................... Figure 4.2: Other languages spoken in children’s environment............................................ viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Sample size of study communities........................................................................ Table 4.1: Recruitment statistics........................................................................................... Table 4.2: Age and gender distribution of population........................................................... Table 4.3: Educational level and occupation of participants (maternal)................................ Table 4.4: Ten early Twi words expressed by infants........................................................... ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABT Abotakyi ATB Atuobikrom CHN Children MUMOC Mums Occupation OBD Obodan SBAHS School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences SES Socioeconomic status x University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS 1. Non-words: Words that are uttered by infants acquiring language. 2. Infant: child aged 12 to 18 months 3. Infants’ words: words used consistently in reference to the same object, situation or person 4. Illiterate: persons unable to read and write Twi 5. Stakeholders: all persons interested in the welfare of the infants’ and their early words 6. Occupation: work engaged in by mothers 7. Twi: language spoken by the inhabitants in the study sites. 8. Participants: mothers with their infants 9. Population: all Twi speaking area 10. Mother: a woman in relation to her child or a female parent. In this study, a mother was generally defined as a female parent in the study population or a caregiver who performed motherly responsibilities to an infant in the study population. xi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Early Intervention in Speech and Language Therapy is the term used to describe available supports services that are given to children who present with developmental delays and incapacities as well as their families to ease the stress, disappointments, helplessness and anxiety of parents and family members. These support services and are based on the needs of the infant and family. Early intervention is of great importance because it helps to ensure better results and outcomes of the intervention services and supports and keeps the individuals on a path to making the most of their abilities and skills. Evidence suggests that the earlier the onset of intervention, the greater the likelihood of an improvement in the desired area. It is argued that early intervention is more cost and time efficient than waiting (Guttentag et al., 2014). As an example, Vohr (2014) indicated that early language interventions for infants with congenital HL have been reported to be beneficial. It states that “MRI studies show there is likelihood for both recoveries of brain structure and microstructure differences indicating the potential for language recovery” To detect language delay experienced by children, it is needful to understand what is typical in language acquisition. Language skills are easy to acquire when an individual is young and the brain is developing (Petersen, 2017). Acquiring new language skills are easy and there appears to be critical periods for speech and language development in infants and young children when the brain is best able to absorb language. According to Friedmann & Rusou (2015), it may be difficult for one to learn if these periods pass without exposure to language. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In English and other languages infants’ language learning and proficiency typically develops in stages. By the age of 3 months, infants react to loud sounds, smile, recognize voice, especially that of his or her mother. Infants coo, babble and produce sounds that give them pleasure between 4 - 6 months. The babbles are produced in a speech-like way and these begin with bi labial sounds such like p, b, and m. Between 7 months and 12 months, many infants babble using long and short groups of sounds such as “tata”, “mamama”, “dadada.” Gestures such as waving appear in their communications and they may have acquired one or two words (“Hi,” “dog,” “Dada,” or “Mama”) by their first birthday. Their lexicon improve with the addition of new words on a regular basis and this enables them to use some one- or two-word questions and also put two words together “Mama rice”. The average age of first word acquisition is between 12 and 18 months old (Tager-Flusberg et al., 2009; Zubrick et al. 2007). By 2 to 4 years, he or she may have a word for almost everything and he/she may use two or three-word phrases when talking. Many more consonant sounds may be heard in the infants’ words for example, k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds. In all these, there are some children however, who may be slower to start saying words. Children who are having difficulty learning language, especially their native language despite having no other developmental difficulties, living in a stimulating environment that is rich with sounds, visuals, as well as the speech and language of other people are said to have a delay (Bishop et al., 2017). Many infant early words at the time they begin to use speech may appear to be jargons or ‘non- words.’ These acquired words are made by the infant in reference to meaningful objects, or with apparent communicative intent (Martha, 2016). Their abilities to express themselves, no matter how, give them the opportunity to interact with people around them. Their ability 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to attempt an expression of their intent put them on a higher social and cognitive level. As they advance in their language acquisition as a result increases in their lexicon, their interactions with people around them take on new complexities. This helps them to explore, expand and understand their environment and they are able to participate more actively and more fully in the life of their family. Infants imitate as noted in Skinner’s theory of language acquisition (Jennings & Henderson (2014). Before they begin speaking, they first listen to the sounds and the language in their environment and reproduce them for attention and reinforcement (Speidel & Nelson 2012; Whitehurst & Vasta, 1975; Hauser et al., 2014). Gradually, they associate the sounds with some objects and situations. Soon they begin to engage in their native languages. Language is unique to humans (Maher, 2015; Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch, 2002), and is fundamental to the way we live our lives. The language environment as mentioned early on is essential to language learning in children. Many theorists have explored the role of the environment in shaping the children’s language learning. Skinner (1957) held the view that it was more useful to study observable behaviour rather than mental events. His study was rooted in a view that classical conditioning, which involved the causes of an internal action and its consequences on the surrounding environment, would give a better understanding of language acquisition (Skinner,1938; 1948). He identified the processes which made certain behaviours more or less likely to occur, and noted reinforced behaviour tends to be repeated and behaviour which is not reinforced tends to be forgotten. He proved this with an experiment on a rat. He put a hungry rat in a box with some food. With time the rat realized that by pressing on a lever in the box, it would get food to eat. This result of receiving food whenever the lever is pressed caused a repeat of the action several times. This could be possible with infants during language learning. 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chomsky (1957), and Piaget (1976) on the other hand believed in the innate ability to acquire language, and in the mental structures or “schemas” of children to develop from infants to adults respectively (Omomia, & Omomia, 2014; De Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007). With the innate ability to acquire and use language, it would be of interest to find out when infants migrate from the babbling stage into the “speech” stage and what words they use. There is an assumption that nouns (such as the names of objects, people and animals) are picked up before other categories in the infants’ early vocabulary (Hall, 2009). In particular, some studies involving English, Korean and Italian children have confirmed this (Dhillon, 2010; Kako, 2005), while Tomasello (2000a,b) and Clark (2009) emphasised that infant words are often single words that relate to items as well as to what goes on around them: people, food, toys, animals, household items, routines, and clothing. However, other studies from a range of languages (French, German, Korean, Tzeltal Mayan and Mandarin) suggest that early words extend beyond nouns to include diverse syntactic word classes (Klassert, Gagarina, & Kauschke, 2014; Kauschke & Hofmeister, 2002). German is considered as a “noun-friendly” language with a clear morphonolgical and phonological differences between noun and verbs. Some studies also found evidence for a noun bias in language learning, particularly at later stages of vocabulary learning, which is after the first 50 words have been acquired (De Houwer, Bornstein, & Putnick, 2014). The age at which definite consonant vocalizations occur varies significantly among children. Sander (1972) says children need to acquire maximum control over their language as they mature. But in so doing, the child must make the effort to deal with a variety of lexical and phonological features which constitute the grammar of his native language (Ferguson & Farwell, 1975). Although young, a child needs to know when and how to use the language as approved by 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh his culture. This could be difficult for infants and may cause them to make errors in their production. Vihman, DePaolis, & Keren‐Portnoy (2014) proposed that, these errors which occur after first‐word productions could be due to an increase in ‘systematicity’. As the infant continues in word‐production, the experiences would speed up new word learning which would have fewer errors. New data shows that children use intricate approaches to detect the prosodic patterns in language input. This contributes to the discovery of words (Kuhl, Conboy, Padden, Nelson, & Pruitt, 2005). 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT The need for early identification and support for infants with speech and language delay is necessary. This increases the chances of better outcomes in the future. In particular, in a study on acquired epileptic aphasia, Weismer (2014) stated that “children unlike adults show a capacity for rapid and complete language recovery after a lesion in the language zones due to brain plasticity.” Early identification of children with/ or at risk of developmental language delay is crucial to offering early intervention in order to address the difficulties. Early intervention can assist in improving language skills and reducing the impacts of delayed language on family, educational and the healthcare systems as well as the individual himself of herself. For example, Shapiro-Mendoza et al (2017), researched on risk factors affecting poor early child development in four low- and middle-income countries including Ghana. The investigation related to the benefits of International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements for 18-month children and how it impacted their language and motor development. The results of the findings inform the design of interventions to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition to improve child development. However, understanding what developmental language delay looks like in Ghana is problematic. There are 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh very few culturally specific assessment and screening tools to carry out this task. Furthermore, there is minimal research about specifics of early words in Ghana. Currently, anecdotal evidence in Ghanaian hospitals and schools suggest an absence in the use of formal and/or culturally acceptable screening assessments tool in evaluating local children. There is therefore a reliance on western made tools in assessment and intervention strategies. Anecdotal evidence also suggests limited literature on early words. Given these problems of the lack of specific screening tools, there is the need for further research to build knowledge of typical first word development to support more extensive research in this area of study. 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of this small-scale exploratory study was to identify and categorize the syntactical classes of the first words spoken by Twi speaking children at the ages of 12-18 months. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of this study are to: i. Identify the range of early words used by infants aged 12 – 18 months. ii. Categorise the words gathered from the infants into syntactic word classes, including nouns, verbs, adjectives and interjections. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS i. What is the range of commonly used early words expressed by Twi speaking infants? ii. Which grammatical category/ categories are dominant among the words? 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The research sought to explore early words spoken by infants aged twelve to eighteen months. A study conducted by Prado et al. (2016) provides valuable evidence on language development among Ghanaian children, and the importance of early intervention. However, it does not report on the earliest words produced by infants in Ghana. This study would contribute to information about early vocabulary development in Ghana by providing specific information about syntax and semantic content. Information gathered from this study may contribute to the foundations for the development of specific information about Twi vocabulary development. Such information may ultimately contribute to the development of appropriate local resources for assessment of expressive vocabulary development in Twi speaking children. Building the evidence in this area is an important part of reducing dependence on Western resources and developing culturally and linguistically specific resources (Topouzkhanian & Mijiyawa, 2013). 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION In this Chapter, attention is given the historical theoretical positions of language, infants’ learning strategies “map” language input, usage-based theory of language acquisition, early words spoken by toddlers, grammatical categorization of early toddlers words, as well as parental occupation and language development 2.2 HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL POSITIONS Skinner (1957) proposed the learning view theory and argued that language acquisition (compared to animal behaviour) is an “operant”. This means that language acquisition develops in infants due to external shaping and reinforcement. By this, Skinner indicated that children learn language in the same way a rat learns to press a bar (through checking and controlling of the reward possibilities). Chomsky (1957) took a different theoretical position in reviewing Skinner’s book “Verbal Behaviour” and introduced “language faculty” which encompassed inherently identified limitations on the probable forms human language could take. This included universal phonetics and universal grammar specifications. Skinner and Chomsky stood strong in their different positions of the theory of language acquisition: i. The initial state of knowledge ii. The mechanism in charge for the development chance iii. Role of ambient language input 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Skinner argued that there is no need for innate information and that developmental change is a result of reward contingencies and linguistic contribution did not lead to language emergencies. Chomsky on the contrary, argued that children’s innate language knowledge is a principal precept, where development meant “growth” of the linguistic unit and language effort sets restrictions for a particular pattern, amid the innately provided (Kuhl, 2000). A lot of lessons have been learned since the debate started, owing to numerous studies done on infants. The perception of infants on phonetic units of speech demands tracking of the format frequencies. Their recognition of words from signals in running speech backs up varied views (Kuhl, (2000). According to current views, the type of learning taking place in early language learning in infants cannot be explained by Skinnerian reinforcement. Again, the argument that language acquisition entails the selection process where language inputs depended heavily on innately specified preferences is not supported. New views point to the fact that infants engage in a kind of new learning, where linguistic input is mapped in detail by children’s brains (Kuhl, 2000). 2.3 INFANTS’ LEARNING STRATEGIES “MAP” LANGUAGE INPUT Early theorists dismissed learning as a mechanism for language acquisition due to the failure of existing learning models (like Skinner’s) to explain facts that underpin language development (Chomsky, 1957). Currently, however, learning models have shown up in discussions on language acquisitions predominantly (Kuhl, 2000). The last two decades have witnessed discoveries that indicated that infants, by simply paying attention to language, acquire advanced data about its properties; thus, creating new views of language learning (Kuhl, 2000). 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Three essential models of a new type of learning language have emerged. Firstly, infants identify patterns in language input. Again, infants can discover and use the distributional and probabilistic evidence to identify higher-order units contained in ambient language by exploiting the statistical properties of the input (Kuhl, 2000). 2.4 USAGE-BASED THEORY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Tomasello (2013) introduced the usage-based theory of language acquisition. Per the theory, children improve on their language primarily by depending on their general reasoning skills because the structures that are needed for language develop from language use. These skills help infants to distribute patterns of language as well as identify the intentions of adult speakers. After infants establish and entrench language patterns, they proceed to generalize these patterns to form linguistic categories that are abstract but specific to their language (Ghalebi et al., 2015). According to Bavin (2009), experiments and naturalistic evidence support usage-based method to language acquisition. Tomasello (2003) indicated four specific progressions that account for how infants develop a language. These are: intention-reading and cultural learning, schematization and analogy, entrenchment and pre-emption, and finally functionally based distributional analysis. The usage-based approach of language development may be summarized in two principles. The first principle centres on the functional or semantic dimension of language communication while the second principle centres on the grammatical or structural dimension of language communications. Tomasello (2003) combined these two principles to propose the usage-based theory of language development among children. He indicated that children are equipped with two sets of cognitive skills when language is acquired: pattern-finding and intention-reading. 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Intention-reading deals with what children need to do in order to determine the intentions or goals of adult speakers when they used language conventions for social ends. The children learn these conventions from the adults and so they are therefore ethnically in line with a functional approach. Pattern-finding, on the other hand, indicates what children should do to extract abstract language constructions or schemas from individual utterances in line with the grammatical approach. The theory thus consists of functional and grammatical dimensions (Ghalebi, 2015). There are some essential points to note with the usage-based theory. The communicative function is the first to begin with respect to acquisition of language. As such, children of early months communicate in fairly advanced ways before they can acquire any productive language. For instance, by pointing, children’s pre-language gestural communication includes a species- unique ability to relate or communicate about children’s understanding with other communicative associates. Thus, pre-language communication acts as a prerequisite to acquisition of ‘arbitrary’ linguistic conventions used by infants (Ghlebi, 2015). Secondly, children begin early linguistic or language communication by the utterance. Just like pointing, utterance is used by infants to express a communicative motive and direct a recipient’s attention to something. By this way infants learn words through understanding of expressions and processes. They attempt to understand the overall communicative intention behind the utterances (intention-reading), as well as determine within the utterances the communicative purposes of some constituents (blame assignment). To learn words, infants must extract words from large utterances and try to connect them with the significant part of the joint attentional- frame they share with their mothers. 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Finally, the essential theoretical point is that children first need to see that when utterances are produced by adults, they fit a particular linguistic pattern. This means adults intend a particular meaning to the utterances. As such, to see these similarities among different utterances, infants need analogy and schematization skills (Gentner & Markman, 1997). 2.5 CULTURE AND EARLY WORD ACQUISITION AND PRODUCTION Cultural variances in interactional style and beliefs about child rearing greatly influence the structure and content of the speech to infants. Variations in maternal speech style are more likely to be linguistic or cultural in origin. Structural differences among languages can constrain the form of early culture-specific beliefs and practices related to children and caretaking can also powerfully have influence on the nature of speech addressed to infants in different cultures (Shatz, 1991). In a study on cultural variations in speech to infants, Fernald & Morikawa, (1993) explored both universal features and cultural variation in maternal speech. Japanese and American mothers' speech to infants at 6, 12, and 19 months was compared in a cross-sectional study of two sets of 60 infants. They were observed playing with toys at home. Mothers' speech in both cultures shared common features, such as “linguistic simplification and frequent repetition. American mothers labelled objects more regularly and constantly than the Japanese mothers did, while Japanese mothers used objects to get their infants involved in social routines more often than the Americans. Caudill and Weinstein's (1970) pioneering a study of Japanese and American mother-infant interaction revealed both similarities and differences in caretaking styles between the two cultures. They found that American mothers talked more to the child and spent more time 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh actively encouraging the infant to respond than Japanese mothers did. Japanese mothers were reported to be more involved in rocking, carrying, and soothing the infant. (Tamis‐LeMonda et al 2012, Bornstein, 2012, Fogel et al., 1988), found cultural differences in the patterning of maternal behaviour, and reported that American mothers responded to infant behaviours primarily with facial and vocal displays, while Japanese mothers were more likely to respond with touch and other nonverbal behaviours. Given the greater emphasis on nonverbal communication in Japanese culture, the responses of Japanese mothers to their preverbal infants may reflect these cultural differences in communicative style (Glancy, 1986). When playing with toys with their infants, American mothers called attention to object names, while Japanese mothers used the toys more often to engage their infants in social routines. For Japanese mothers, the name of the object often appeared to be irrelevant. 2.6 BABBLING AND EARLY SPEECH PRODUCTION Language occurs at about the same age in every healthy child throughout the world (Lenneberg & Lenneberg, (Eds.). (2014). There is a strong agreement that the sounds and sound forms of babbling and early speech are basically the same (Morgan, & Wren, 2018: MacNeilage et al., 1997). Children presumably use babbling and speaking in socially similar ways Davis & Zajdo 2010). Nature guides and equips infants to identify certain sound patterns that match up with their vocal motor abilities and significant sound properties. Infants begin to mention things while their phonetic abilities are still developing. As such, their early words can only be expressed “with the motor abilities that exist when vocal references are useful.” There are morphological similarities in every language (Locke, 1989).These similarities make determining which language environment any particular infant, or groups of infants, have been 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh exposed to difficult. The morphological similarities also make it hard to tell when a child has begun to speak, and also difficult to differentiate the syllables that are words from those which are not. Syllables can be analysed to show equivalent levels of similarity between babble and speech. Hewlett, & Beck (2013) and Kent & Bauer 1985) charted the syllable shapes of five 13- month-old American infants. Their data showed that “CV syllables occurred with over 10 times the frequency of VC syllables”, and these data show a correlation to child speech patterns - that is children producing many initial than final consonants. Since the 1950s, available data have shown that each infant’s profile of sounds varies from another infant’s (Chapman & Hardin-Jones 2010, Locke 1988, Goad & Ingram 1987). However, it also appears (to those who collect and analyse vocalization data) that each infant varies from day to day. When two infants differ, it would be difficult to determine that the “variations are due to something about the infants themselves rather than to mere variations across sampling intervals”. Many studies of babbling and subsequent first words have agreed that “the same sounds and patterns are responsible for babbling and words” (DePaolis et al 2011). Davis and MacNeilage (1996) found “three strong patterns of consonant-vowel co-occurrences in CV syllables of babbling of 6 infants were also found in slightly reduced form in a study of the first words of 4 of these infants. Children must eventually be able to contrast inter-syllabic content to a high degree in order to produce accurate speech (Lee, Davis & MacNeilage, 2010: MacNeilage et al., 1997). 2.7 EARLY WORDS SPOKEN BY INFANTS Infants’ use of phonetic constituents of their babbling repertoire helps them to refer to things. As such reference is not unique to the act of speaking since infants begin to refer to things while 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their phonetic capabilities are still in the process of developing. Their first words can only be produced with the motor ability that exists at the time vocal reference become useful. That explains why infants have their own words in reference to different things. Studies investigating the early words of children have reported evidence to suggest that children as young as 6-month- old by this time understand the meanings of many common words like, “Mommy”, “Daddy”, “Banana”, “Eyes” and “face” (Bergelson & Swingley, 2012; Bergelson & Swingley, 2015; Tincoff & Jusczyk, 1999; Tincoff & Jusczyk, 2012). For word production, a cross-cultural study by Tardiff, Fletcher, Zhang & Kaciroti (2008) found evidence of the first ten words produced by 8 to 16 months old children. The aim of the research was to examine the content of children’s first words and the researchers achieved this by collecting and analysing data from similar samples of 265 English, 336 Putonghua (Mandarin), and 369 Cantonese-speaking - infants aged 8 to16 months old and whose mothers filled in and returned the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories to show the ten early words. The results revealed evidence of some word similarities: six of the first twenty words were found in all three languages. Some of the words include, daddy, mommy, hello, bye and Woof Woof. Another study went beyond simply investigating the first words of children to examining how variable and predictable children’s (10-11-month-olds) first words were. To achieve this objective, the researchers, Schneider, Yurovsky and Frank (2015) collected survey data from four groups of American parents. The survey required parental report of children’s first words, (excluding “mama” and “dada”). The report was to show who the word was targeted at, the context in which the first word was said, the child’s age at the time of utterance, the child’s 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh current age, and gender. Overall, the results showed that there was substantially common words amongst the four collected datasets, with “Hi” appearing in all four, and “Bye”, “Ball”, “Dog”/ “Woof Woof”, and “Cat” appearing in three. Further results showed evidence that children’s first words tend to surface earlier before their first birthday and that there was a greater level of consistency in the kinds of things children named in their first words, irrespective of the age when the words were mentioned. Blesses, Vach and Dale (2018) also examined parent’s self-reports of the frequency of vocabulary said to their young children in Danish. The researchers collected data from indigenous Danish-speaking parents of children aged 12-to-36-months. Results indicate that some of the words frequently said to children by parent were typically socially interactive words (e.g., ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘hi’, ‘night-night’, ‘thank you’), people’s names (e.g., “mommy”, “daddy”), and words linked with ingestion (e.g., ‘breakfast’, ‘food’, ‘to drink’) or routines of sleep (e.g., ‘bed’, ‘to sleep’). This finding suggests that children between the ages of 12-to-36-month-old due to input influence can acquire and produce the aforementioned words. A study by Goldman (2001) examined the utilization of ‘mama’ or akin sounds by infants less than 6-months of age. Parents of 75 infants were instructed to listen for the sounds of ‘mama’ in their toddlers babytalk and to indicate precisely what sounds were made, the age when the sound was made, whether the sounds seemed to be referring to any person or persons and whether they seemed to have a function. Results showed that ‘mama’ started at a mode of two months, range two weeks to five months, was basically a constitute of a cry and was frequently understood as a ‘wanting’ sound. The researcher reported that majority of parents recounted that the infant wanted some form of attention, whiles a few thought it was an expression of hunger. 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In Ghana, language development was studied by Prado et al. (2016) as part of a broader study investigating how infant development is positively affected by providing small-quantity lipid- based nutrient supplements to pregnant women and infants. Even though the researchers collected data on words used by children between 12-31-month-olds from mothers using the MacArthur-Bates communication development inventory, these researchers did not make available the list of words reported by the mothers. Explaining why infants possess such amount of vocabulary, Clerkin, Hart, Rehg and Smith (2017) asserted that children’s phenomenal word learning is influenced by their visual experience and how they see the world around them. 2.8 TONES A tone is a pitch used in language to differentiate lexical or grammatical meaning (Morett & Chang 2015). Generally, speaking in a monotone is not a common occurrence, although it may be possible. According to Yip (2002), many human languages are tone languages which make use of lexical tone, vowels and consonants to bring about meaningful differences between words. Lexical tone is identified by fundamental frequency (or pitch), which draws on specific cues like mean pitch and pitch contour to cause changes in word meaning (Chandrasekaran, Sampath, & Wong, 2010). Just as the widely used English language, local languages depend on pitch and other suprasegmentals to lay emphasis and give the needed emotions and intended meaning. Differences in some words come about because of difference in the phonemes. For example, words such as “pay” and “say.” If the word “say” is said on a high pitch, it means “to utter a word,” On the contrary, if the same word, is “said on a low pitch, it would mean something else. Tone systems are identified in about 50% of the languages of the world (Hyman, 2007). Most 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh “tone languages” are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, East and Southeast Asia, South Central Mexico, and some parts of Amazonia and New Guinea. Twi is one of the Akan groups of dialects. As a language, it has a place in the Nyo subgroup of the Kwa language family and it is spoken in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire (Paster, 2010). Twi, has two tones: high (/) low (\) (Manyah, 2006; Abakah, 2010; 2015) and “all vowels and syllabic consonants carry tones” (Creissels 1994, Dolphyne 1998). Like most vowels in many African languages, Twi vowels are written with little indication of how they should be pronounced . Konotey-Ahulu (2001). The explanation to this is that the difference in meaning between two or more Twi words may not only be due to its vowel and consonant composition, but also to the pitch with which their syllables are produced. The contrast between the two pitch heights occurs in words where the assigned syllable pitch is relatively higher or lower. As noted by Manyah, (2006), “vowel quantity is used for lexical and grammatical distinctions, and nasality is used for lexical distinctions.” Vowels of stem words are divided into two categories: a class of verbs that always occurs with low tone and another class of verbs that always occurs with high tone. Continuative and stative forms of verbs carry low tones. For example /wo/-→ /wɔ̀/ ‘be located’ /so/→ /sõ‵/ ‘be big’, and /di/→/dè/‘be called’. Except the habitual, all verbal patterns carry low tones: /pe/ → /pὲ/‘to like’, /kasa/ →/kàsà/‘to speak’ /bisa/ →/bisà/ ‘to ask’.Where there is a verb plus verb construction, the first verb carries a low tone and the second has a high tone: /kofa/ →/kɔ̀fá/ ‘go and take’, /koto/ → /kɔ̀ tɔ́/ go and buy’. Where there is verb reduplication, the two stems carry low tones: /didi/ →/dì dì/ ’to eat’ /bubu/ →/bùbù/ ‘to break’ /huhu/ →/hùhù/‘to blow’ and /tutu/ →/tùtù/‘/‘to dig.’ (The above verbs are in their plural forms). Differences made are not based on “absolute pitch, 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh but on relative pitch in a word.” Some examples of difference between tone changes that are lexical are as: /bra/ →/bra/ ‘life, existence’ (noun) as against /bra/ → /brà / ‘come’ (verb), /dada/ →/dádá/ ‘old’ (adjective) as against /dada/ →/dàdà/ ‘already’ (adverb), /da/ →/dá ⁄ / ‘to sleep’ (verb), day’ (noun) as against /da/ →/dà/ ‘never’ (adverb). Tone differences distinguish the habitual from the future and the past forms, and the negative from the imperative. Typical examples of lexical grammatical contrasts are: /owo/→/ɔ̀wɔ́ /‘snake’ as against. /owo/ → /ɔ̀wɔ̀/ ‘he/she possesses’, obefa/ →/ò bέ fá/ ‘he/she will take’ as against /obefa/ →/ò bὲ fá/ ‘he/she comes to take’, /odo/ →/ ɔ́dɔ́/ ‘love’ as against /odo/ → / ɔ́dɔ̀/ ‘he/she loves.’ In the group of homotones are words that exhibit same tone patterns but have different meanings. Some examples in Twi involving three tone patterns are as follows. 1. Low-High patterns in dissyllabic words: /ope/ → /pέ/ ‘he/she looks for’. /pe/ →/pέ / ‘Harmattan Winds’, /oye/ →/ɔyέ/ ‘he/she is good, generous’ as against /oye/ → /ɔyέ/ ‘he/she insults’. 2. High pattern in monosyllabic words: /da/ → /dá/ ’day’ as against /da/ →/dá/ ‘to sleep’, /ka/ →/ká/ ‘debt’ vs. /ka/ →/ká/ ’to bite’. 3. Low-Low patterns; /owo/→//ɔ̀wɔ̀// ‘he/she possesses’ as against /owo/ →//ɔ̀wɔ̀// ‘he/she is located’, /titi/ →/tìtì/’to tear (plural form) as against /titi/ → /tìtì/ ‘ancient times’. 2.9 GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIZATION OF EARLY INFANTS WORDS In a study of the earliest words produced by 18 children, Stolt et al., (2008), and Benedict (1979) found that words from several word classes, rather than one word class, are present from the beginning of language production. She noted that while numerous word classes were in the early productive vocabulary, more than half of the words learned were object words. These data make 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the inference that only one class of words is learned for early production unsustainable. A number of subsequent studies have largely confirmed the existence of three CV co-occurrence patterns in both babbling and early words, though the studies of early words have for the most part been based on small databases per infant. Other studies have confirmed some aspects of the CV relations in both English-speaking infants and in cross-language research during babbling and first words. For instance in a study Vihman (1992), 23 infants learning French, English, Swedish and Japanese in the first word period showed some CV relations. Along with the various similarities between babbling and first words, three variances have been observed in a number of studies. While coronal consonants tend to predominate in babbling, Boysson-Bardies et al. (1992) found that “labial consonants are more recurrent in the first words of English, French, Japanese, and Swedish infants. In addition targets for first words phonetically transcribed from the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 1992) also show high presence of labials (Davis et al., 1999; Teixeira and Davis, Stoel-Gammon, 1998) The class of early words of children has been debated for long in literature. It has been argued in some researches that nouns dominate the early words of children. For example, a study by Bonstein et al., (2004) explored the make-up of children’s vocabularies in 7 communities: Argentina, Belgium, Israel, France, Italy, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. Mothers of 269 20 month-olds infants completed similar vocabulary checklists for their children. Results from analyses revealed that in each language and vocabulary size grouping, children’s vocabularies contained higher volumes of nouns than any other word classes. The researchers further pointed out that each word class was consistently positively related with every other class in each language. 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Another study by Marjanovič-Umek, Fekonja-Peklaj and Podlesek (2013) found similar results about nouns predominating children’s first words. The researchers examined for the features of vocabulary and grammar development in Slovenian-speaking infants and toddlers using an adapted version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). The participants included 512 Slovenian-speaking children aged 8 months to 2:6 years. The results showed that nouns dominate in the languages of the infants at various ages. It was further revealed that as children‘s vocabularies increased, the interjections in their vocabularies reduce, and that of verbs and adjectives increase. A longitudinal case-study was conducted in 2000 with a French speaking toddler starting when she was 1:2 year old until she was 2:6 years old. The researcher, Bassano (2000) investigated the development of noun and verb word classes in the free speech. Analyses indicated that, acquiring French meant that, children aged 1:8 years gained and produced large amounts of nouns over verbs, nevertheless verbs were asserted to be produced in earlier developmental stages. The researcher further found that the noun class of concrete object names and verbal class of concrete action verbs were the most dominant categories, but they were not the earliest to appear. A research by Levey and Cruz (2003) investigated the first words enunciated by children in English and Mandarin Chinese environments. The aim by the researchers was to find out if indeed verbs would emerge in the children’s early productions, as evidenced by findings suggesting a verb bias among children in monolingual Mandarin Chinese environments (e.g., Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek, 2008). To achieve this, the researchers collected data from parents of 17 bilingual children speaking English and Mandarin Chinese aged from 1:10 years to 4 years. Results demonstrated that in both English and Mandarin Chinese, a seemingly greater number of 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh nouns than verbs were produced as children’s first words. Even though nouns were reported in both English and Chinese, verbs were reported to be enunciated the most only in Mandarin Chinese. Similar evidence was reported by Xuan and Dollaghan (2013), who examined the quantity of noun bias in bilingual Mandarin–English toddlers whose expressive vocabulary “in each language contained 50–300 words. Parents of 15 children (aged 1:10 years –2:6 years) reported at different times on their English and Mandarin expressive vocabulary. The results revealed that a proportion of Mandarin nouns (38%) were significantly lower than the percentage of English nouns (54%) after controlling the effects of twelve potential covariates. The researchers concluded by saying that a noun bias for both Mandarin and English can be found in bilingual children with corresponding expressive vocabulary in each language. Contrary evidence was found in a study titled: Joint attention and word learning in Ngas- speaking toddlers in Nigeria by Childers and colleagues in 2007. This study examined the language development of 8 younger infants (1:0-to-1:5-year-olds) and 8 older toddlers (1:7 to 2:7 year-olds) in a rural village in Nigeria. Analyses of children’s noun and verb comprehension and production (in relation to the number of nouns or verbs on a parental checklist) revealed that parents reported relatively more verbs than nouns. The researchers explained this finding by suggesting that perhaps Ngas, which is the language spoken by the children, has some linguistic characteristics that are like languages in which noun bias is not seen (e.g., Mandarin Chinese). Again Gentner (1982) suggests that object words are less complex than action words and thus easier to encode. Another possible explanation is that infants are biased to attend differentially to objects and to assume that new words are names for objects (Markman, 1992). A third explanation by Bridges (1986), is that parents emphasis more often on objects than on actions, 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and that object labels are given special prominence in early language input. Nelson (1973), for example, found that “more than half of American mothers' utterances to 13-month-oId infants in a play situation were related to the toys and objects at hand, with a high frequency of object labelling.” Waxman, Fu, Arunachalam, Leddon, Geraghty & Song (2013) and Choi & Gopnik (1995) have argued that English is a "noun-dominant" language, relative to more "verb- dominant" languages like Korean and Japanese, and that such structural differences could influence the rate and type of word acquisition in these languages. In particular, infants learning languages in which nouns are emphasized may acquire nouns more rapidly than infants learning languages in which nouns are less salient. Consistent with this prediction, we found that American infants had larger noun vocabularies than did Japanese infants at 19 months, according to maternal report. Choi and Gopnik further suggest that structural differences in Korean and English could partially accounts for some developmental differences - nouns can be deleted in Korean, but not in English. The researchers argue that because nouns may be more noticeable in English than in Korean, English-learning children may attend relatively more to nouns than do children learning Korean. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION This Chapter describes the methods used in this study to address the stated objectives. It includes the research design, research setting, sample size and the target population used. The tools, method of data collection and analysis, data management and ethical considerations are also described. 3.2 STUDY DESIGN A survey design has been described by Cozby (2009) as a “methodology for asking people to tell us about themselves”. Similarly, Creswell (2012) maintained that a survey design is particularly useful when an interest is expressed in describing trends in data rather than offering cause-and- effect explanations. This study asked participants (parents) to self-report information on the development of language in their infants. A survey design was used and it employed both open and close-ended questions to collect cross-sectional data (Appendix III) 3.3 STUDY SITES The study was conducted in three predominantly Twi speaking communities – Abotakyi (ABT), Atuobikrom (ATB) and Obodan (OBD) of the Akuapim North, Kwahu South, and Akuapim South districts respectively in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study sites or communities were chosen because of their relatively small size with less infiltration of other cultures with regard to language. 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.4 STUDY PARTICIPANTS According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a study population is a group of individuals taken from the general population who share common characteristics, such as age, gender, or health condition (NCI, 2018). In this study, the population of interest consisted of families (mothers and their infants) in three Twi speaking communities (study sites) in Ghana 3.5 INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA 3.5.1 Inclusion Criteria Inclusion criteria are the characteristics that restrict a population to a homogenous group of participants. Where homogeneity is not ensured in a study, the ability to interpret findings meaningfully may be challenged. The same could also apply to the ability to transfer and generalize. (http://methods.sagepub.com/referece/encyc/of/research/design). Whilst diversity in the communities was recognized, it was ensured that subjects in the research complied with a range of criteria to narrow the sample, consistent with the study objective. Hence, the following inclusion criteria were used to select families as participants in this research study: 1. Mothers with infants aged 12 to18 months of age who resided in the study sites. 2. Infants in this age category who had not been enrolled in school. 3. Mothers who understood and spoke only Twi with the infants. 3.5.2 Exclusion Criteria According to the literature, (http://methods.sagepub.com/reference/encyc-of-research-design) exclusion criteria are a set of predefined definitions used to identify and exclude subjects from a study or who withdraw from a research study as reported. The exclusion criteria for this study were: 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1. Non-Twi speaking mothers 2. Mothers whose children presented with motor and other developmental delays and difficulties with speech and language. 3. Infants in the age group who had been enrolled in preschool. 3.6 RESEARCH MATERIALS/INSTRUMENTS A questionnaire purposely designed for this study was used as data collection tool. The questionnaire included two sections, which contained both open and closed questions. The first section involved demographic data of participants. This included age, occupation, educational level, and unusual issues relating to the pregnancy of their infants. Data related to the infants birth order, languages spoken by mothers with their participating infants, and a parental perception of the child’s level of understanding of the Twi language so as to have an idea on how contextual the infants may be using their words. The second part of the questionnaire involved a recording form (Inventory) which asked participants to document as many new words their infants spoke each day for a period of two months. Contents of the questionnaire were design in consultation with the researcher’s supervisors and five randomly selected parents whose have children between 20 and twenty four months. Details are provided in Appendix I and II for the questionnaire and Word Inventory form respectively. 3.6.1 Developing Checklists In developing the questionnaire, and accompanying inventory, meetings were held with five randomly selected mothers. These meetings were used to explore reported expressive vocabulary of their older children (aged 20—24 months at the time of the study) may have expressed at younger ages (12—18 months). The information provided by these parents helped to inform the 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh development of the inventory, and the likely words which may be reported by participants during the data collection (Appendix III). 3.7 SAMPLING METHOD A convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique as suggested by Acharya, Prakash, Saxena, & Nigam (2013). With this method, the subjects are selected because they are easier to recruit for the study. A selection of subjects that are representative of the whole population is not considered. This sampling technique is preferred because it is inexpensive and easy. Also the subjects were available and willing to participate. Generalizations can also be made only to the population defined by the sampling frame. For these reasons, a convenience sampling was used in this study. 3.8 SAMPLE SIZE A simple sampling frame was usedto ensure both a sufficient sample size and distribution of participants between each community (Table 3.1). This frame included the total number of mothers considered eligible for participation in each community as per the inclusion criteria in the study. From the sample frame, the study used a statistical model to decide on the sample size at a 95% confidence level with a margin of error of 5%. 𝑁 279 𝑛 = = = 100 1 + 𝑁(Ә2) 1 + 279(0.05 𝑥 0.05)2 where n = the sample size, N= the sample frame (279), and margin of error is Ә = 0.05. Using the given values, a sample size of 100 participants was obtained. Proportions were used to distribute the sample size for the three study communities. 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 3.1: Sample size of study communities Name of community Number of parents within sample frame Percent, % Sample size Abotakyi 92 33 33 Obodan 95 34 35 Atuobikrom 92 33 32 Total 279 100 100 3.9 DATA COLLECTION PROCESSES Following ethical clearance from the Ethics Committee of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences of the University of Ghana - SBAHS – ASLT/10602611/SA/2017 – 2018 - in January, 2018, the study commenced. After initial dialogue with the officers in charge of the identified child welfare clinics, introductory letters and other relevant documents were given to consenting mothers in the study communities. Mothers attending the child welfare clinics were informed about the study. It was explained that knowledge about their infants’ early words would help Speech and Language Therapist to prepare culturally appropriate resources that would aid work with their infants who may have language delay. Caregivers, more typically mothers, served as informants for the information on the forms. The initial visit was used both to introduce the study to the mothers and, once they indicated a willingness to participate, instructions were given on their role in the data collection. Mothers at the child welfare clinics in the communities were informed about the relevance of the research study. Where the mothers were many, they were put into groups of ten to fifteen. It was explained that knowledge of their infants’ early words was important to ascertain speech 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh impairments and experiences of possible delays in reaching speech milestones which could be associated with subsequent delays in language development. It was further explained that knowledge of the early words of infants would help clinicians gain insight into culturally appropriate resources that could be prepared to aid assessment and therapy for possible clients with speech and language delay. The contents of the questionnaires and how the recordings should be done were explained to the mothers. Mothers who expressed interest were assured of confidentiality if they consented to participation. Information about the study was provided in Twi as it was the community language. Mothers were informed that they were at liberty to opt out of the study at any time if they so wished. Participants were encouraged to inform others in the community about the study and to assist in community information and recruitment. . \ All participants as well as interested people present were given the opportunity to ask questions. Appropriate answers were given. If they consented to participate, the mothers were provided with consent forms. Thereafter, the participating mothers were given the questionnaires and completed the first part of the questionnaire during the session. They were able to seek clarification from the researcher if required. Participants were educated on how to complete the second part of the questionnaire during this session. This included: Writing words they observed their child saying Adding new words observed Continuing to add new words for a period for two months Interjections were described to the parents as an exclamation, or utterance the infants may make when they are excited, sad, upset of in distress. e.g. “oh”, “ah”, “ha” or “aje.”, “ooo” and they 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh were asked to record these. Interjections were specifically addressed within the data collection instructions as many parents may not have viewed these as “words” that their child uses, and may have failed to record them without explicit understanding of what the study was looking for. Parents were advised to keep the forms at safe places, e.g. on top of the cupboard or the fridge in the living room to ensure easy access to recording. The importance of recording correct data on the children’s first words was very important. The participants were required provide written records of exactly what they heard their infants say, and the way it was said. On receiving the recorded words, the researcher discussed the inventory of the child with the mothers, and had the mothers explain the intention of the infants with regard to the words recorded. Mothers with low literacy were advised to have family members help with the recording. The researcher made a total of twelve visits to the communities. Each community was visited four times at two week interval. During these visits, informal interviews were conducted on each child's word use and situational information was reviewed. All participants received personalized vocabulary record of their children’s vocabulary on a certificate of appreciation which was laminated. No payments were made to participants for their time and participation in the research. 3.10 DATA ANALYSIS Data were analyzed descriptively. Words were classified according to syntactic class. Frequency counts of each word and word classes (e.g. nouns and verbs) were undertaken. Descriptive statistics for the number of words in the communicative vocabularies of the children were also analysed. Syntactic word classes were analysed to determine the proportion of each type of grammatical class per child, word frequency and the percentage of early words 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh acquired from the inventory of word lists. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS version 23 was used to perform descriptive analysis. 3.11 DATA MANAGEMENT Data collected was kept confidential and only available and assessed to the researcher. Data was stored in a locked cabinet. Names of participating infants were not used. Participating infants or families were given unique identifiers known only to the researcher. Data was entered into an excel spreadsheet which was designed for the purpose and later transferred to SPSS v. 23 for analysis. The sheets were password protected. Electronic data were backed up weekly on a separate hard drive. Identifying details were not stored with any collected data. 3.12 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Approval was obtained from the Research Ethics and Protocol Review Committee of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences (SBAHS - ASLT/10602611/SA/2017 – 2018). Written consent was sought from participants before the research commenced. Participation in the study was completely voluntarily and participants could freely withdraw anytime from the study. They were also provided with detailed information about the study as indicated on the Participant Information Sheet (Appendix IV). Participants’ consent was obtained via the Consent Form (Appendix V). Confidentiality was ensured by assigning codes to each of them. All participants received a personalized laminated vocabulary record of their infants’ vocabulary on a certificate of appreciation. 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.1 INTRODUCTION In this Chapter, the results of the study are presented. The results include infant and maternal demographics, early words of the infants, maternal occupation, grammatical categories of recorded words, and age of word category acquisition. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0 was used to quantitatively analyse the research data . 4.2 DEMOGRAPHICS The study involved a total of 100 mothers who had a chid each, recruited from three towns as shown in Table 4.1. Table 4.1: Recruitment statistics Statistics of recruitment Recruitment site Number Percentage, % Obadan 35 35.0 Abotakye 33 33.0 Atuobikrom 32 32.0 Total 100 100.00 The population was fairly distributed among the study sites. Most of the mothers were recruited from Obadan (35.0%) compared to 32.0% from Atuobiktom. 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.2: Age and gender distribution of participants Age (Infants: months Mothers: years) Number Percent, % 12.0 14 14.0 13.0 17 17.0 14.0 16 16.0 15.0 13 13.0 Infants 16.0 13 13.0 17.0 12 12.0 18.0 15 15.0 Mean age 14.94  2.04 months  19 1 1.0 20-29 38 38.0 30-39 42 42.0 40-49 17 17.0 Maternal 50-59 2 2.0 Mean age 20  8.67 years The ages of the infants ranged from 12 – 18 months with a mean of 14.94  2.04 months. There were more females (53.0%) and males (47.0%). The maternal population consisted of only 1 teenage mother, and 2 mothers aged 50 – 59 years. Most of the mothers were aged 30 – 39 years (N=42, 42.0%) and 20 – 29 years (N=38, 38.0%). The educational and occupational demographics are presented in Table 4.3. 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.3: Educational level and occupation of participants (maternal) Demographics Number Percent, % No formal education 33 33.0 Primary 7 7.0 Level of education Junior High School (JHS 27 27.0 Senior High School (SHS) 33 33.0 Baker 1 1.00 Casual worker 1 1.0 Cleaner 11 11.0 Cook/Food vendor 4 4.0 Farmer 25 25.0 Hairdresser 4 4.0 Unemployed housewife 13 13.0 Laundry woman 2 2.0 Occupation Office Assistant 1 1.0 Receptionist 3 3.0 School Assistant 1 1.0 Seamstress 1 1.0 Self employed 4 4.0 Shop Assistant 2 2.0 Susu Collector 1 1.0 Teacher 2 2.0 Trader 24 24.0 Source: Field data, 2018 The highest level of education was SHS. There were as many mothers with no formal education as those with SHS education (N=33, 33.0%). In general, many mothers had secondary education (N=60, 60.0%) than those with primary or no education at all (N=40, 40%). Most of the mothers 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh either practice farming (N=25, 25.0%) or trading (N=24, 24.0%). A number of them worked as cleaners (11.0%). Besides these and those unemployed as housewives (13.0%), the rest (27%) worked in several types of occupations. 4.3 EARLY TWI WORDS To determine the ten early Twi words recorded by the study participants, a total of 65 words were rank-ordered per their respective frequencies. The first ten is as shown in Table 4.4. (All 65 words – in their rank-order – as provided in appendix IX.) Table 4.4: Ten early Twi words expressed by infants Words recorded Adult equivalent and Meaning Grammatical Frequency (%) by mothers IPA transcription category among children Dada/Daa dàdá/ da: /dædæ/dæ:/ Father Noun 77 Mama/Maa màmá /mæmæ/mæ: / Mother Noun 65 Ntu nsú /nsu/ Water Noun 43 Anom Nom /nʊm/ Drink Verb 34 Dae/tai dzàɪ /dzaɪ/ Stop Verb 34 Bɔɔ bɔl /bɔl/ Ball Noun 29 Tɔ kɔ́ /ko/ Go Verb 26 Ɔɔp/tɔpu kɔ́p/kɔ́pʊ: /kɔp/ Cup Noun 20 Ataa ásà /asa/ Finish Adjective 18 Baaba báebàe /bʌɪˈbʌɪ/ Bye-bye Interjection 17 Source: Field data, 2018 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The results showed that 77% of the mothers reported that Da/Dada/ (da/dadda) was the most recorded early words of their infants; while 65% recoded Mama/Maami (Mama-Mother as the second most frequently expressed by their infants. Ataa (Asa-finished; 18%) Babaa (bye-bye- 17%). Majority of these words were nouns, which made up 50% of the first ten early words. There were 3 verbs accounting for 30% of the words and the others were adjective (10%) and interjection (10%). 4.4 GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDED WORDS Grammatical categorization of the recorded words was analysed. To achieve this objective, descriptive analysis was conducted. A total of 533 words collected over the 2-month study period were categorized according to the parts of speech. Of these, 55 words were commonly expressed by majority of the infants - (these words appeared on the inventory sheets of 55 infants and were expressed in the same way) (Fig.4.1). 35 31 32 30 26 25 20 15 10 6 5 5 0 Proper Nouns Common Concrete Adjectives Verbs Nouns Nouns Grammatical categories Figure 4.1: Grammatical categories of words recorded 47 Frequency (%) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh There were other words that had the same referents but were differently expressed. The majority (69%) of the common Twi words collected were nouns. Concrete nouns constituted 32.0% of the nouns (so what were the rest). The least frequent grammatical category observed in the vocabulary of the infants was adjectives (5%). Bye-bye was the only interjections recorded of the total number of words. 4.6 OTHER LANGUAGES IN CHILD'S ENVIRONMENT Though Twi was the major language under study, the mothers indicated that other languages as shown in Figure 4.2 were spoken to the children by other neighbours. Ewe (35.0%) and English (15.0%) were the most and least spoken languages respectively in the children’s environment. English, 15% Ga, 30% Hausa, 20% Ewe, 35% Figure 4.2: Other languages spoken in children’s environment 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSIONS 5.1 INTRODUCTION In this Chapter, the results obtained from the study are discussed. The aim of the research was to find out the ten early words of infants aged 12 to 18 months. The discussion on the results is based mainly on the specific objectives of the study. These being the first ten early words expressed by infants, and the grammatically categorization of the words. Other observations were also discussed. 5.2 DISCUSSION 5.2.1 TEN EARLY WORDS EXPRESSED The primary objective of the current study was to find out the ten early words expressed by infants aged 12 to 18 months. Descriptive analyses revealed a set of ten words reported by mothers as frequently and consistently expressed by their infants. The results suggest that the ten early words apparently expressed by infants had Dada (da/daddy) and Mama/maa (Mama- mother) as the two most expressed in terms of frequency. These results are consistent with findings of a cross-cultural study by Tardiff, Fletcher, Zhang & Kaciroti (2008) whose data were collected from infants in the United States, Hong Kong, and China. The words were all parent reported as was the case in this study. The ages of the participating infants in that study, unlike the ages of the infants in this study ranged from 8 to 16 months. The results of the study revealed evidence of some word similarities: six of the first twenty words found in all three languages used in the study of Tardiff et at (2008) included, daddy and mommy. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In the current study, the result showed the word “Dada” dominating with 77% and then mama with 65%. This result is consistent with the literature that “mama” and “dada” predominate over the first words of infants (Goldman, 2001; Schneider, Yurovsky & Frank, 2015). Ataa (Asa – finish) ranked ninth (18%), and Babaa (bye-bye) ranked tenth (17%) were the least produced in the order of ranking in the current study. In the study by Tardiff et al, (2008), “bye” was ranked fourth (25%) in the words of children from the United States, fourteenth (5%) by Hong Kong children, and tenth (8%) in the list of the Chinese children. The participating parents in Goldman’s (2001) study mentioned that infants as young as 6-months old use “mama” as either a cry for attention, or thought it indicated their child was hungry. Perhaps this is also the case for the children in the present study. It is also possible that this is so because culturally, infants this age are always with their mothers. The children could use “Dada” or “Mama” to seek attention or to signify their need to be fed. It is not surprising that mothers would report both words as the most used by their children. Clerkin et al. (2017) also noted that, children’s first words are based on their visual experiences with objects and the prevalence of those objects in their visual world. The report of words like “ntu/atu “(nsu- water) and “Bɔɔ “(Bɔl), and Ɔɔp/tɔpu (kɔp- cup) in this study is consistent with the assertion. Children could use these words because of the visual exposure of these objects or animals in their environments. This finding is also in agreement with the findings of Tinkoff and Jusczyk (1999), Tinkoff and Jusczyk (2012), and Bergelson and Swingley (2012), Bergelson and Swingley (2015) and Bergelson and Ashi (2017). The studies reported that majority of the words are categorized as nouns because the infants see them. 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In their study of relationship between quality and quantity of language input and its effects on children’s vocabularies, Hart and Risley (1995) found that levels of education and income affected the vocabulary of infants. In particular, high income families had their children acquiring and producing many varied words. This finding was also observed in this study. For example, few children of teachers and civil servants produced words such as “apaboa” - footwear, “ammaa” - bird). This could be due to that fact that parents could afford to buy and read the books to their infants thereby coming across varied words. 5.2.2 GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIZATION OF THE WORDS The results from the study revealed four grammatical categories for the early words. The categories identified were nouns (50%). Verbs, adjectives and interjections together accounted for the rest (50%) of the words recorded. The research objective to grammatically categorize the words showed that out of 627 words recorded over the study period, 69% of the words recorded was nouns, of which concrete nouns constituted 32%. This finding is consistent with the literature where it has been reported or suggested that children’s first words are noun biased, i.e., there are more nouns than other word classes (Levey & Cruz, 2003; Marjanovič-Umek et al., 2013). The observation however, contradicts the findings of Childers et al. (2007) where parents reported proportionally more verbs than nouns. This is probably because the study was conducted among the Ngs tribe of Nigeria who have “some linguistic characteristics similar to languages like Mandarin Chinese in which a noun bias is not observed. Two other exceptions to this are in Mandarin and Cantonese where children use more verbs because lone verbs are used to represent a clause. (Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek, 2008) 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Furthermore it has been suggested that infants name more nouns in their early words because they are able to map the words (nouns) to real objects. According to Begelson & Swingley (2012), and Tincoff & Jusczyk (2012), the mapping capacity of infants serves as a catapult for their acquisition of other words. They further asserted that children pay close attention to objects rather than “to which the objects are engaged” and have noted that children learn the names of objects before learning the names of the associated object actions. This explains why there is a dominance of nouns over other word classes in infant vocabulary. On the contrary, researchers of Korean language reached different conclusions. In particular, Au et al. (1994) studied early vocabulary acquisition in Korean using a checklist method and confirmed that Korean parents’ input to children’s vocabulary is verb-dominant because of their linguistic structure. Verbs were four times more likely to appear in the final positions of adult Korean language to children than objects - nouns (46% vs. 10%). In English, the contrary was identified: verbs were 9% of the final positions, and nouns 30%. Nonetheless despite verbs being more in the Korean infant vocabulary, when Au et al., (1994) observed early vocabularies of Korean children (using an adapted MacArthur CDI parental checklist) they found sizable noun dominance. Another point of interest is that, unlike this study which looked at only ten early words of infants, other researches such studies on ‘Baby’s First Words’ in Mandarin, Cantonese and Norwegian and “A cross-linguistic study of early lexical development” sampled more than, ten words, (Tadiff et al., 2008:20 words, Caselli et al, 1995: 50 words) but focused their analysis on the first ten words in terms of ranking. Many of the words such as daddy, mommy, water, drink and bye listed in the first ten of these run across the different languages. These words were ranked in the first 10 words as evident in this study. However, the words were all not at the same positions in the various studies. 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Furthermore, Glancy (1986) in his study on cultural differences in communicative style of Japanese and American mothers reported that greater emphasis was placed on nonverbal communication in Japanese culture, compared with American culture where mothers called attention to object names when playing with their infants with toys. The observations in the current study confirmed this and it seem to be a probable explanation of why infants seem to have a greater repertoire of nouns in their early vocabulary. As in this study, Tadiff et al., (2008) and Caselli (1995), ranked “daddy” and “mommy” as first and second respectively in the different languages apart from Mandarin where “mommy” and “daddy” were ranked third and fifth as reported by Nina Gram (2013). It would be of cultural significance to know why this so. The word “dog” was ranked third in Caselli’s study of the Italian and English languages, tenth in the Norwegian and English languages in Tadiff’s study, and ninth in this study. “Dog” was not listed the Mandarin and Cantonese languages. The word “stop” did not appear in the first ten rankings of any of the languages. It was however ranked fifth in this study. This could be of cultural significance. For instance in the Ghanaian culture, it is perceived that children are a reflection of their parents. For this reason, parents would often use the word “stop” whenever their children are engaged in unapproved activities, and would use it as often as is necessary. 5.2.3 CULTURE AND EARLY WORDS It is also possible that culture and environment may have played a role in the early words of the infants and the data suggests that. In this study, during visits to the sites, the researcher observed that mothers consistently repeated words they expressed in varied ways for emphasis. As an example, they would say “kɔ́p” every time they felt the infant needed a drink, and they used very simple grammatical structure during interactions with their infants. The mothers only said “Nsu” for “wo bɛ nʊm nsú?” This is consistent with a study in which Fernald & Morikawa (1993) 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh explored cultural variations in maternal speech to two sets of 60 Japanese and American infants at 6, 12, and 19 months. They explored both universal features and cultural variation in maternal speech. The mothers together with their infants were observed playing with toys at home. Mothers' speech in both cultures shared common features, such as “linguistic simplification and frequent repetition. American mothers labelled objects more regularly and constantly than the Japanese mothers did, while Japanese mothers used objects to get their infants involved in social routines more often than the Americans. Furthermore, the word “stop” did not appear in the first 10 rankings of any of the languages- English, Norwegian, Mandarin and Cantonese in which investigations were made by Tardiff et al., (2008). This word was ranked fifth in this study. It could be as are result of cultural norms. For instance in the Ghanaian culture, it is perceived that children are a reflection of their parents. For this reason, parents would often use the word “stop” whenever their children were engaged in an activity they do not approve of. 5.3 CLININCAL IMPLICATIONS Ghana is a multicultural country where infants often learn to speak multiple languages including the official language English, as they grow up. Although there are many studies that have looked at the early vocabulary and language development of children in English, this is not the case in many of the local languages. Many clinicians tend to rely on tests adapted from English speaking populations. Baker (2000) suggests that very often, assessment of bilingual children suggest disabilities, deficits or lack of proficiency in a second language. This implies that using tools that are culturally inappropriate during assessments can very easily legitimise an infant’s temporal 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh difficulties and can be misinterpreted as relatively more permanent difficulties needing to be addressed. This might not necessarily be the case. The knowledge of infants’ early words in Twi, is certainly a welcome development aimed at resolving the lack of appropriate assessment tools to assist the speech and language therapists and other clinicians in screening/assessing and making more acceptable clinical judgements about local children’s vocabulary and language. It is very important that assessments of bilingual children are accurate, valid, fair and culturally suitable. When this happens, information would be based on operational standards that would give mothers and other family members the assurance that communication problems that may come up in the future could be resolved based on agreed standards nationwide. Assessment and interventions would be valid and reliable because they would be based on evidence and our infants would be the beneficiaries in the long term. 5.4 LIMITATIONS The primary limitation of the study was the inability to generalize the findings because of the small sample size, limited study sites and limited to a specific language within the study sites. Had the study not been limited, it would have afforded the researcher the opportunity to realise the effect of the various languages on one another during early word acquisition. Another limitation was that some mothers wrote words that were not produced during the study period. In particular, the infants had expressed then prior to the commencement of the study. This demanded a lot more effort and time for clarification and subsequent deletion of such words. The long distance between the study area and the researcher’s location posed a challenge as the researcher always had to travel long distances to the study sites. In some cases, the researcher 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh travelled with the hope of meeting the parents who had promised to be available but ended up meeting no one because they had had to travel out for other commitments. The researcher however, exercised patience at all times to ensure collection of all necessary data. Furthermore, some of the mothers exhibited poor attitude towards the study, especially towards the writing of words, though they consented to the study. Sometimes some mothers did not record the words although they did mention that the infants produced them. The mothers constantly had to be reminded of the importance of the study and why they needed to be committed. There was also the problem of unavailability of mothers when they were needed, especially to verify the intent of the children as recorded on the sheet of paper and further probe to veracity about the early words actually spoken by children. They were on some occasions out of town even when they were aware of a planned visit. Because of this the researcher had to accept a few of the written words without verification. A further challenge was refusal of some mothers to write some words because the words made no meaning to them (adults). They also assumed wrongly and wrote words that were possibly not correct considering the articulatory maturity levels of the infants. This affected the exact early words since the researcher had to exclude all such unsure words from a child’s word inventory. 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 INTRODUCTION The study explored ten early words expressed frequently and consistently by infants aged twelve to eighteen months in a study group comprising 100 mothers, each having a child. A survey design was used, employing both open and close-ended questions to collect cross-sectional data for the study. The study was undertaken in 3 conveniently sampled and predominantly Twi speaking communities in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study population comprised 100 mothers, each with a child participated in the study. The words data obtained were parent reported. 6.2 CONCLUSION The interaction between child and mother, support communication and facilitate the infant’s transition early communication skills into early words and then into language. It is being suggested that the mode and intensity of parent interactions will be beneficial in investigating future early words acquisition. For example, words that are frequently focused on in particular contexts may be acquired and learned easily and earlier than words that are not frequently used. Furthermore, infant early words can be analysed in future studies to find out they are related to babbling to provide a new picture of language development. The expected contributions of this work fall into several categories including guiding therapists to prepare therapy resources and also for other researchers, even if the goal is not specific to early words. The findings on early word acquisition contribute to the body of knowledge on child language acquisition. In 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh particular, the language acquisition community may be interested in seeing the patterns and rate of development over a long time span in infants of Twi speaking communities, and the relationship between rate of acquisition and the child’s environmental/cultural conditions. Recordings on paper were done by each mother and the intent of the infant at the time of production were explained to the researcher during the collection of the inventory sheets at two weeks intervals. Based on the frequency of the words expressed by the infants, the following words were identified as the early words expressed by the infants: Da/Dada (da/daddy), Mama/Maami (Mama-Mother), ntu/Atu (nsu- water) anom (nom -drink), dae/tai (gyae-stop), bɔɔ (bɔl-ball), Tɔ (ko-go), Ɔɔp/tɔpu (kɔp- cup), ataa (asa -Finish) and Babaa (bye-bye). The findings provide further evidence that nouns were the most expressed words and interjections, the least. It is possible that because the infants were still in the process of maturing in their articulatory skills, the mothers may have disregarded many of the non-words they expressed because they may not have deemed them as words, considering how they (adults) say them. However, the fact that an infant’s words do the not meet the expectation of medical staff does not necessarily point to delay in language acquisition. The final analysis suggests that knowing the early words of infants would help stakeholders who work with infants and clinicians become aware of when infants are delaying in language acquisition, (depending on the number of words an infant may/ may not have expressed by ages 12 – 18 months) and could provide a basis for monitoring the language growth as well as provision of early intervention strategies. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.3 RECOMMENDATION(S) Based on the study, the following recommendations were made. 1. 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Applied Psycholinguistics, 18(4), 453-469. 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIXES APPENDIX I Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences College of Health Sciences University of Ghana PO Box KB 143, Korle- Bu APPENDIX I: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET My name is Bernice Brown a graduate student at the University of Ghana. I am inviting you to participate in a research study. Involvement in the study is voluntary and so you may choose to participate or not. I am interested in finding out the first words of Twi speaking children in Ghana. You will be asked to answer questions from the questionnaire. All information will be kept anonymous and confidential. You will be given an ID number and no one except me will know your answers. Relevant information would be translated into the target language where necessary for the families or caregivers. The research will help support the work of professionals working in child development and inform the expectations of parents by understanding and identifying ‘red flags’ in early childhood development. At the end, you will be given a word certificate containing the words your child said. There will be no payment for participation. The study has received ethical approval from the University of Ghana. If you start but do not wish to continue you can withdraw from the study without penalty. This form is for you to keep. Thank you. 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX II: VOLUNTEER CONSENT FORM VOLUNTEER CONSENT FORM I.................................................................... give my consent to participate in the research project entitled ten (10) early words of infants aged twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months born to Twi speaking parents. I, the undersigned, confirm that (please tick box as appropriate): 1. I have read and understood the information about the project, as provided in the  Information Sheet dated ________________. 2. I have been given the opportunity to ask questions about the project and my  participation. 3. I voluntarily agree to participate in the project.  4. I understand that I can withdraw from the study at any time, without affecting  my relationship with the researcher(s) or The University of Ghana. 5. The procedures regarding confidentiality have been clearly explained (e.g. use of  names, anonymity of data, etc.) to me. 6. I understand that any research data gathered from the results of the study may be  published. However, no information will be used that can identify me. 7. I understand that other researchers will have access to this data only if they agree to preserve the confidentiality of the data and if they agree to the terms I have  specified in this form. 8. I understand that if I have concerns about the research at any point I am able to contact the researcher to discuss any issues I have:  Researcher: Bernice Brown 9. I, along with the Researcher, agree to sign and date this informed consent form.  Name of Participant Signature Date _______________________ ___________________________ ________________ Name of Researcher Signature Date 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX III Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana PO Box KB 143, Korle- Bu PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE Age (years): 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Age of child (months): ---------------------------------------------------- Occupation: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Educational level: None Primary JHS SHS Other Important: YOU DO NOT NEED TO WRITE YOUR CHILD’S NAME ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE. Was there anything unusual about your pregnancy or birth? Yes ------- No------- If yes, briefly describe.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is the birth position of your child? ----------------------------------------- Are there any other children who relate to the child beside those in immediate family?--------- Are languages other than Twi spoken to the child? ----------------------------------------- If yes, which other languages? ----------------------------------------- Does your child seem to understand most of what you say? ------------------------------- Is your child in school? ----------------------------------------- Who does your child spend the most time with? (Check all that apply.) a. Both parents ---------- b. Mother only ---------- c. Father only ---------- d. Grandparents ---------- e. Other --------------------------------------------- 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX IV: WORD INVENTORY FORM Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy School of Allied Health Sciences College of Health Sciences University of Ghana PO Box KB 143, Korle- Bu Month of Data Collection: ------------------ CHILD’S ID------------------- Date of Birth ---------------------------- Age: -------------------------- Table A1: Word Inventory Form No. Twi Word Word in English Intended Word 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX V: CHECKLIST Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy School of Allied Health Sciences College of Health Sciences University of Ghana PO Box KB 143, Korle- Bu Table A2: Checklist (words of children compiled from other parents) Words Twi English Maa Mummy Da/ papa/ pa Daddy Bia Come Wuwu/ Huu Dog Ummm/ Di Food/rice Dai Stop Da/ada Sleep Baba/ Tu/ Ntu/ atu Water Asa/saa/a Finish Babaa/baa Bye-bye Tata/ mama/nana Grandma/ grandpa Bɔɔ Ball Kɔp Cup Ate/ ti Spoon 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX VI Record of early words of participants showing codes, gender, mothers’ occupation and number of words expressed. Table A3: Atuobikrom (ATB) Code Gender Mothers Age (month)s occupation 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Number of words collected Fwe/001/atb F Hairdresser 6 Fwe/002/ atb F Hairdresser 3 Fwe/003/ atb M Trader 6 Fwe/004/ atb M Seamstress 5 Fwe/005/ atb M Cleaner 7 Fwe/006/ atb M Farmer 3 Fwe/007/ atb F Teacher 7 Fwe/008/ atb F Trader 6 Fwe/009/ atb M Cleaner 6 Fwe/010/ atb F Cleaner 4 Fwe/011/ atb F Trader 7 Fwe/012/atb F Trader 5 Fwe/013/atb M Farmer 6 Fwe/014/atb F Teacher 3 Fwe/015/atb F Unemployed 5 Fwe/016/atb M Trader 3 Fwe/017/atb F Baker 7 Fwe/018/atb M Cook 5 Fwe/019/atb F Seamstress 6 Fwe/020/atb M Farmer 5 Fwe/021/atb F Unemployed 7 Fwe/022/atb M Student 4 Fwe/023/atb F Farmer 7 Fwe/024/atb F Trader 6 Fwe/025/atb F Hairdresser 4 Fwe/026/atb M Farmer 5 Fwe/027/atb M Farmer 2 Fwe/028/atb M Unemployed 7 Fwe/029/atb F Housewife 8 Fwe/030/atb M Cook 7 6 6 Fwe/031/atb M Public servant 3 Fwe/032/atb F Trader 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A4: Obodan (OBD) Code Gender Mothers Age (months) occupation 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Number of words collected Fwe/001/obd M Farmer 6 Fwe/002/obd M Hairdresser 5 Fwe/003/obd M Trader 7 Fwe/004/obd F “Susu collector” 4 Fwe/005/obd M Seamstress 7 Fwe/006/obd M Housewife 2 Fwe/007/obd F Farmer 5 Fwe/008/obd F Trader 6 Fwe/009/obd M Trader 7 Fwe/010/obd F Farmer 7 Fwe/011/obd M Unemployed 7 Fwe/012/obd F Unemployed 6 Fwe/013/obd M Famer 6 Fwe/014/obd M Civil servant 2 Fwe/015/obd F Trader 7 Fwe/016/obd M Cleaner 5 Fwe/017/obd M Trader 4 Fwe/018/obd M Unemployed 4 Fwe/019/obd M Housewife 6 Fwe/020/obd F Farmer 6 Fwe/021/obd F Baker 5 Fwe/022/obd M Food vendor 6 Fwe/023/obd F Trader 6 Fwe/024/obd F Trader 5 Fwe/025/obd F Unemployed 6 Fwe/026/obd M Farmer 3 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A4 cont’d: Obodan (OBD) Code Gender Mothers Age (months) occupation 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Number of words collected Fwe/027/obd Fwe/028/obd Fwe/029/obd Fwe/030/obd Fwe/031/obd Fwe/032/obd Fwe/033/obd Fwe/034/obd Fwe/035/obd 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A5: Abotakyi (ABT) Code Gender Mothers’ Ages in months occupation 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Number of words collected Fwe/001/abt F Cleaner 7 Fwe/002/abt M Hairdresser 4 Fwe/003/abt M Trader 7 Fwe/004/abt F Cleaner 5 Fwe/005/abt M Farmer 7 Fwe/006/abt F Self employed 3 Fwe/007/abt M Farmer 6 Fwe/008/abt M Trader 6 Fwe/009/abt M Trader 7 Fwe/010/abt F Housewife 6 Fwe/011/abt M Unemployed 6 Fwe/012/abt M Housewife 5 Fwe/013/abt F Famer 7 Fwe/014/abt M Trader 4 Fwe/015/abt M Trader 8 Fwe/016/abt F Cleaner 8 Fwe/017/abt F Civil servant 2 Fwe/018/abt M Trader 9 Fwe/019/abt M Housewife 9 Fwe/020/abt F Farmer 7 Fwe/021/abt M Cleaner 7 Fwe/022/abt F Trader 6 Fwe/023/abt M Hairdresser 7 Fwe/024/abt F Unemployed 5 Fwe/025/abt F Farmer 7 Fwe/026/abt M Cleaner 4 Fwe/027/abt F Civil servant 4 Fwe/028/abt M Cook 6 Fwe/029/abt M Cleaner 6 Fwe/030/abt F Self employed 4 Fwe/031/abt M Self employed 7 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Fwe/032/abt F Cleaner 5 Fwe/033/abt M Civil servant 5 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX VII: RECORD OF INFANTS RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY (BY AGE) Table A6L Records of recruited infants Study site Age (months) Total Atuobikrom Obodan Abotakyi 12 4 4 6 14 13 7 5 5 17 14 5 7 4 16 15 4 4 5 13 16 5 3 5 13 17 3 5 4 12 18 4 7 4 15 Total 32 35 33 100 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX VIII: RECORD OF INFANTS’ WORDS BY GENDER Table A7: Records of infant words by gender Age Female words Male words Total No. of Total No of Average no (months) words/ age) infants/age of words 12 19 27 46 14 3.1 13 28 33 61 17 4.3 14 40 46 86 16 5.7 15 37 38 75 13 5.7 16 40 40 80 13 6.1 17 30 54 84 12 6.4 18 60 41 101 15 5.9 Total 254 276 533 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX IX Table A8: Frequency of infant words expressed No Most common and typical Adult Equivalent Frequency English pronunciations translation 1 Dada Dada/ papa /dàdá//pà:pá/ 77 Father 2 Mama Maami/maame/ma:mi/ 68 Mother /mà:mi//màmá//màmà/ 3 Ntu /Atu/ ntsu Nsu/ nsuo /nsú//nsúo/ 65 Water 4 Anom Nom / nʊm/ 52 Drink 5 Dae/ tai/ai Gyae /dzàɪ/ 48 Stop 6 Bɔɔ Bɔl /bɔl/ 60 Ball 7 Kɔ/ ɔkɔ Ko /kɔ́/ 59 Go, Gone 8 ɔɔp/kɔp Kop/kɔ́p/ /kopoo//kɔ́pò:/ 57 Cup kɔpʊ://kɔ́pʊ 9 Ooh/ Asaa Asa/ /ásà/ 57 Finished 10 Babaa Baebae /báɪbàɪ/ 53 Bye-bye 11 Wuwu/ Huu Ɔkraman/ Kraman 51 Dog /ɔkrámàn/krámàn/ 12 Ɛeei Ɛyɛ /ὲyέ/ 47 Fine/ I’m fine 13 Abia/ abo Aboa- /æbuá/ 43 Animal 14 Adaa Da/ mɛ da /dá/ /mέdá/ 42 Sleep 15 Bibi Beebi/ abaduaba 42 A baby/ /bè:bí/ /àbádʊaba/ Doll 16 Dodo/adoo/ koko Koko /kókó/ 39 Porridge 17 Apabua/ Pɔbua Mpaboa /mpàbʊá/ 38 Foot wear 18 Kar/voocar Kaa /ká:/ 38 Car 19 Nana/ ana Nana/nanabarima/nanabea/ 37 Grandma/pa /nàná/nànábárimà/nànábɪá 20 Fiit/fis Nam/ ɛnam /nám/ὲnám/ 26 Fish 21 Ummu Omu/ emo /òmú/ ὲmʊ/ 25 Rice 22 Puu/ puupu Tiefi / tíefì/ 24 Feaces 23 Amoa/ miaw/mia Agyinamoa /ɔkra/ 20 Cat adzinàmó/ɔkrá/ 24 Bodo/Panoo Brodo/ paanoo /bródò/pá:nɤ:/ 12 Bread 25 maa to Ma mi so /má mì sʊ‵ / 11 Pick me up 26 Aade Atade /àtá:dɪ/ 10 Dress, Shirt shorts 27 Maa mi/ ma biɛ Mame bi /mά mì bi/ 10 Give me some 28 Adodo Ndomin /ndómìn/ 10 I will eat …. 29 Ai, ai Hwɛ /6ʷɛ/ 9 Look 30 A buu M ɛ bu wo /mè bú wʊ‵ / 8 I will beat you 31 Adi Prɛte/ plate /prɛtɪ/pleɪt/ 8 Plate /bowl Ayowa /àyʊwà/ 32 Baa Baag /bà:gí/ 8 Bag 33 Ati Afẽ àfĩ/ 83 8 Comb University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Apaa Prayɛ/ prae 8 Broom/ Sweep prάyὲ /prάɪ/ 35 Aadu kwadu kʷàdù// 8 Banana 36 baatu Banku / bãnkù / 7 Banku 37 Dabi/mma/abi Dɛbi/Dabi dɛbi/dàbi/ 7 No 38 Apoti Apɔnkyi /àpɔ̀nt6í/ 7 Goat 39 Baat Brɔʃ, brɔɔhye /brɔ̀ʃ/ 6 Brush 40 Aasi /aoo Ɛyɛ shi /ὲyέ6í/ 6 Hot 41 Moo/moomoo/mo Nantwi /nàntʷɪ/ 5 Cow 42 Atuu Atuu /àtú:/ 4 Hug 43 Aminaa Semina /sὲmìnà/ 4 Soap 44 Ate Atere /àtìrí/ 4 Spoon 45 Wɔt Wɔɔkyee /wɔ:6í/ 4 Watch 46 Tasi Akondw a /ækʊndʷá/ 4 Chair/ stool /àkonguá-- /àkuŋʷá/ 47 Anomaa Anoma /ànʊmmá/ 4 Bird 48 Bitit Biskit bískìt/ 3 Biscuit 49 Atu/ atutu Ɛkutu -/ὲkútù /àkútù/ 3 Orange 50 Tɔtɔtɔ Kɔkɔkɔ /kɔ́kɔ́:kɔ/ 3 Knocking on a door 51 Yaa / Aaa Yaa /yá:/ 2 Girl’s name 52 Apu/mpu Pon//pʊ՛n// /ɛpʊn /ὲpʊ՛n/-- 2 Door 53 Bia Bra /brά / 2 Come 54 Mpɛ /mi pɛ /mì pὲ/ 2 I like ……. 55 Dodo Dokno /dɔ̀knʊ‵ 2 Kenkey --corn meal 56 Miiko Minko miŋ̃kɔ̀/ I Refusal to go 57 Daasi/asi Me daa si / Mì dà:sí// 1 Thank you- 58 Baauu/ Hu Baaluu/hu /bàːluː/hu// 1 Balloon/blow 59 Aafɛ Ɛyɛ fɛ /ὲyέ fὲ/ 1 Beautiful 60 Toatot atotosh Ntos ntɔ̀s/ 1 T o m a t oe Tomantosi /tomántosɪ/ 61 Tetete Cerelac /sὲrélὰk/ 1 Cerelac 62 Ntu Osu /òsú/ 1 Rain 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 Atoo Akos -- /akɔs/ 1 Girl’s name 64 Pon Ɔpon / pon //Ɔpʊ՛n//ὲpʊ՛n/ 1 Table 65 Nati Nantew /nàntíw / 1 Walk 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX X INFANTS’ WORDS AND INTENTION Table A9: Infants words and intention No Common Adult equivalent Intention as Grammatical pronunciation explained by category (from children) mother 1. Dada dàdá//pà:pá A call Common/ concrete noun 2 Mama mà:mi//màmá/ A call Common/ /màmà/ Concrete noun 3 Ntsu/ ntu/atu nsú//nsúo/ Request/ Common noun expression of desire 4 Anom nʊm/ Request/naming Verb phrase 5 dae/ tai/ai Gyae/dzàɪ/ Instruction Verb 6. tɔ/ ɔtɔ /kɔ́/ Instruction Verb 7. ɔɔp/tɔpu kɔ́pò:/ /kɔ́pʊ:/ Naming Concrete Noun /kruwà/ Common noun 8. Ataa/ ooh ásà/ Informing Verb 9. Babaa /báɪbàɪ/ Interjection 10. Bɔɔ /bɔl/ Instruction/ Concrete noun Naming 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX XI Comparison of some early words of infants 12-18 months and globally observed words Table A10: Comparison of early infant words Infant words No Twi (Ghana) English USA (Mandarin) Cantonese Norwegian Hong Kong Beijing 1 Dada Daddy 1 Daddy 1 Daddy2 Pappa (daddy) 5 2 Mummy Mummy 2 Mommy 3 Mummy1 Mamma (mummy) 1 3 Drink ------ ------ --------- ------- 4 Stop -------- -------- ------- -------- 5 Go --------- --------- -------- ------- 6 Ooh/ All done UhOh 6 UhOh 6 ------- ------ /finished 7 Water ------ ------- ------- ------ 8 Bye-bye Bye 4 ------- Bye --10 Bye-7 9 Dog Dog-10 ----- ------ Dog 10 10 Ball ---- ------ ------ ------ Cantonese, Mandarin and English source: Tadiff et al, 2008; Norwegian: Nina Gram, 2013. Bold figures show position in language in terms of frequency 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX XII Table A11: The MacArthur-Bates communicative development inventory/ words and gestures No. Category Number in data Percent,% Sound effects and animal sounds 3 3.4 Nouns—People 8 9.3 Food and drink 10 12 Clothing 5 6 1 Body parts 3 3.4 Small household items 8 10 Furniture and rooms 3 3.4 Animals (real or toy) 4 5 Vehicles 1 1.1 Toys 4 5 2 Games and routines 2 2.3 3 Action words 22 24 4 Pronouns 3 3.4 5 Question words 2 2.3 6 Prepositions and locations 3 3.4 7 Outside things 2 2.3 8 Places to go 0 -- 9 Adjectives 3 3.4 10 Words about time 0 00 Adopted from the MacArthur Bates communicative development inventory of words /gesture 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX XIII 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90