Gonasillan A, Bornman J, Harty M
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2013 Dec;60:10-5.
The primary aim of this study was to ascertain the relevance of the vocabulary of the Language Development Survey (LDS) for typically developing South African toddlers who attend ethno-linguistically diverse early childhood development centres.
The need for exploration of the expressive vocabulary of this population stems from the diverse linguistic contexts to which toddlers are exposed on a day-to-day basis in South Africa. Many parents prefer English as the language of learning and teaching for their child. As a result, toddlers interact with ethno-linguistically diverse peers from a young age, usually within their early childhood development centres.
An adapted version of the LDS was presented to 40 middle-class parents in Mpumalanga. Vocabulary commonly used by toddlers was determined and a comparison of parent responses made between the present study and the original American-based survey.
Results revealed that nouns were used most often by toddlers, in keeping with research on vocabulary acquisition. Significant correlations between the two groups were evident in 12 of the 14 categories. Parents reported that nouns, verbs, adjectives and words from other word classes were used similarly by toddlers, despite differences in their linguistic exposure.
These findings suggest that the LDS is a valuable clinical screening tool for speech-language therapists who deliver services to toddlers within the South African context.
本研究的主要目的是确定语言发展调查问卷（LDS）的词汇对于就读于种族语言多样化的幼儿发展中心的南非正常发育幼儿的相关性。
对这一人群的表达性词汇进行探索的必要性源于南非幼儿日常接触的多样化语言环境。许多家长希望孩子将英语作为学习和教学语言。因此，幼儿从很小的时候起，通常是在幼儿发展中心内，就与种族语言多样化的同龄人互动。
向姆普马兰加省的40位中产阶级家长发放了一份改编版的LDS。确定了幼儿常用的词汇，并将本研究中家长的回答与原始的美国调查进行了比较。
结果显示，幼儿最常使用名词，这与词汇习得研究一致。在14个类别中的12个类别中，两组之间存在显著相关性。家长们报告说，尽管幼儿接触的语言不同，但他们使用名词、动词、形容词和其他词类的词汇方式相似。
这些发现表明，对于在南非为幼儿提供服务的言语治疗师而言，LDS是一种有价值的临床筛查工具。
