Child-directed speech in low-SES communities : the case of Afrikaans rural and urban-situated infants

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dc.contributor.advisorSouthwood, Frenetteen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorSouthwood, Frenette, 1971-en_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorBrookes, Heatheren_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorBrookes, Heather, 1963-en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCoetsee, Carmenen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-04T16:54:40Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-26T20:55:45Z
dc.date.available2024-03-04T16:54:40Z
dc.date.available2024-04-26T20:55:45Z
dc.date.issued2024-03
dc.descriptionThesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: Most research on child language acquisition has been conducted in the global north (also called minority world contexts or WEIRD contexts), and the findings have been assumed up until recently to be universally applicable, even to cultures in majority world contexts. The limited research that has been conducted in the majority world has however shown that there are vast differences in the child socialization practices which underlie language acquisition and that findings from one culture cannot be generalized to another, not even within the same country or the same type of majority world context. For this reason, research on child language acquisition needs to be expanded to include more diverse and understudied cultures, and these cultures need to be studied on an individual basis and not simply in a comparative light to previous, minority world research. Also, socioeconomic status (SES) as well as urban or rural location can also affect socialization practices even within the same community, further emphasizing the need for varied research even in the same country or region.This study examined a facet of child language socialization practices, namely language input, in 10 low-SES, Afrikaans-speaking households, an understudied South African community. Half of the households were situated in urban areas and half in rural areas in and around one town. This study sought to describe the language practices of this community in terms of the amount of child-directed speech presented to 5-month-old infants, with specific focus on sentence types and contingent speech. The data was in the form of 10 hours of video recordings (1 hour per infant) which were transcribed using ELAN and categorised into the following main sentence types: declaratives, exclamations, imperatives and questions. These main categories were used for child-directed speech, speech about the child but not directed to the child, and speech neither about the child nor directed at the child. There were also three other categories in the analysis, namely instances of infant vocalizations, contingent speech and speaking as if the interlocutor were the infant. These six main categories were chosen in order to describe the language practices of these households in this community, and the data from the urban and rural groups were compared to see if there were any differences between the groups. The results of these analyses showed that, once again, findings from other cultures’ language practices, while being useful for comparison, cannot be taken and generalized as the standard. In this study, the types and number of sentences used as well as the amount of child-directed speech present, indicated that this community “goes against the grain” of what scholars have found for other low-SES, majority world contexts. This topic and study population were chosen to determine what the child language socialization practices are in one understudied community, in an effort to start building a database and knowledge which could facilitate future research and inform the development of culturally appropriate, parent-led, early child language intervention programs.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die meeste navorsing oor kindertaalverwerwing is in die globale noorde (ook genaamd minderheidswêreldkontekste of WEIRD-kontekste) gedoen, en daar is tot onlangs aanvaar dat die bevindinge daarvan universeel van toepassing is, selfs op kulture in meerderheidswêreldkontekste. Die beperkte navorsing wat wel in die meerderheidswêreld gedoen is, het egter getoon dat daar groot verskille in die kindersosialiseringspraktyke is wat taalverwerwing onderlê en dat bevindinge van een kultuur nie na 'n ander veralgemeen kan word nie, selfs nie binne dieselfde land of dieselfde tipe meerderheidwêreldkonteks nie. Om hierdie rede moet navorsing oor kindertaalverwerwing uitgebrei word om meer diverse en onderbestudeerde kulture in te sluit, en hierdie kulture moet op 'n individuele basis bestudeer word en nie bloot in 'n vergelykende wyse met vorige minderheidswêreldnavorsing nie. Sosio-ekonomiese status (SES) sowel as stedelike of landelike ligging kan ook sosialiseringspraktyke selfs binne dieselfde gemeenskap beïnvloed, wat die behoefte aan gevarieerde navorsing selfs in dieselfde land of streek verder beklemtoon.Hierdie studie het een faset van kindertaalsosialiseringspraktyke, naamlik taaltoevoer, in 10 lae-SES, Afrikaanssprekende huishoudings, 'n onderbestudeerde Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap, ondersoek. Die helfte van die huishoudings was in stedelike gebiede en die ander helfte in landelike gebiede in en om een dorp geleë. Die studie het gepoog om die taalpraktyke van hierdie gemeenskap te beskryf in terme van die hoeveelheid kindgerigte spraak wat aan 5 maande oue babas gebied word, met 'n spesifieke fokus op sinstipes en sogenaamde reaktiewe (Engels: “contingent”) spraak. Die data was in die vorm van 10 uur se video-opnames (1 uur per baba) wat met behulp van ELAN getranskribeer is en in die volgende hoofsintipes gekategoriseer is: verklarende sinne, uitroepe, imperatiewe en vraagsinne. Hierdie hoofkategorieë is gebruik vir kindgerigte spraak, spraak oor die kind maar nie gerig tot die kind nie, en spraak nie oor die kind of gerig tot die kind nie. Daar was ook drie ander kategorieë in die analise, naamlik gevalle van babavokalisering, reaktiewe spraak, en praat asof die gespreksgenoot die baba is. Hierdie ses hoofkategorieë is gekies om die taalpraktyke van hierdie huishoudings in hierdie gemeenskap te beskryf, en die data van die stedelike en landelike groepe is vergelyk om te sien of daar enige verskille tussen die twee groepe was. Die resultate van hierdie ontledings het getoon dat bevindinge uit ander kulture se taalpraktyke, hoewel dit nuttig vir vergelyking mag wees, nie as die standaard geneem en veralgemeen kan word nie. In hierdie studie het die tipes en aantal sinne wat gebruik is, sowel as die hoeveelheid kindgerigte spraak teenwoordig, aangedui dat hierdie gemeenskap "teen die grein gaan" van wat navorsers bevind het vir ander lae-SES, meerderheidswêreldkontekste. Hierdie onderwerp en studiepopulasie is gekies om te bepaal wat die kindertaalsosialiseringspraktyke in een onderbestudeerde gemeenskap is, in 'n poging om 'n databasis en kennis te begin bou wat toekomstige navorsing kan fasiliteer en waarop die ontwikkeling van kultureel-gepaste ouergeleide vroeëkindertaal-intervensieprogramme gebou kan word.af_ZA
dc.description.versionMastersen_ZA
dc.format.extentx, 126 pages : includes annexuresen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/130529
dc.language.isoen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshLanguage acquisition -- Infantsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChildren -- Language -- Social aspects -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshSociolinguisticsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshAfrikaans language -- Social aspectsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshLanguage acquisition -- Parent participationen_ZA
dc.subject.nameUCTD
dc.titleChild-directed speech in low-SES communities : the case of Afrikaans rural and urban-situated infantsen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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