article · First Language
This study compares early gesture and lexical development in 1,199 infants (0;8–1;6) across South Africa’s 11 official spoken languages using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Gestures. We examined the effect of age, sex, ecological (urban-rural) setting, and maternal level of education (MLE) on early language development. Age was a significant predictor of gesture, comprehension, and production. There was no evidence of a female advantage, except in one language (Sesotho sa Leboa), where females were more likely to produce words. For ecological setting, results were mixed, with five out of 11 languages showing both positive and negative effects for urban versus rural environments. We found no evidence for the impact of MLE in seven out of 11 languages. We discuss possible explanations for these results.
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DOI: 10.1177/01427237251388512
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