Abstract
The receptive, expressive and pragmatic language abilities of 18-month-old Zulu speakers were assessed in order to obtain preliminary norms. Twenty-five participants of the Birth to Ten cohort study were investigated using parent reports, mother-child and tester-child interactions. Data was transcribed and analysed using nonparametric statistics. Results demonstrated that receptively subjects understood two-part instructions. Expressively, the mean lexicon was 4.12 words and mean length of utterance 0.65. Pragmatically, subjects were functioning on a nonverbal level and exhibited culture-specific items. The results provided information which could enable speech, language and hearing therapists to engage in primary and secondary prevention. An appropriate test battery for these children is discussed.
Highlights
The receptive, expressive and pragmatic language abilities of 18-month-old Zulu speakers were assessed in orde norms
Cohort studies belong to the realm of epidemiology, they are a powerful tool that can be used for descriptive research, which is concerned with "acquisition of skills in young children" (Cohen & Manion, 1991, p. 70)
Primary prevention refers to the elimination of the occurrence of a communicative disorder, for example, by mass public education and the promotion of better health in general; secondary prevention focuses on early detection and treatment of a communication problem and tertiary prevention relates to rehabilitation, the traditional focus of attention for speech, language and hearing therapists (Gerber, 1990; Marge, 1991)
Summary
The receptive, expressive and pragmatic language abilities of 18-month-old Zulu speakers were assessed in orde norms. This methodology has been adopted by speech, language and hearing therapists who have made use of cohorts for developmental research, such as the Connecticut Longitudinal Study in which mother-infant communication was examined Epidemiology, from a speech, language and hearing therapists' perspective, is concerned with the prevention of communicative disorders, where prevention usually occurs at three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary (Gerber, 1990). Primary prevention refers to the elimination of the occurrence of a communicative disorder, for example, by mass public education and the promotion of better health in general; secondary prevention focuses on early detection and treatment of a communication problem and tertiary prevention relates to rehabilitation, the traditional focus of attention for speech, language and hearing therapists (Gerber, 1990; Marge, 1991)
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