Abstract:
A number of studies on early lexical development in languages other than English have been conducted using a well-known parent report, the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI). In this pilot study an adaptation of the MCDI has been conducted, and Standard Hindi (SH) and Fiji Hindi (FH) version has been created. This assesses the early lexical development of nine New Zealand born Hindi-speaking children aged 15 to 30 months. The inventory has been extended to collect data on the emergence of word combinations and sentence complexity levels. Both versions of the CDI have been validated against spontaneous language samples. The high levels of correlations between the adapted CDI versions and spontaneous language samples demonstrate good concurrent validity. Comparisons are made between SH and FH participants. The influence of English exposure on Hindi vocabulary development has also been explored. Findings from both groups indicate language development follows early communication milestones. There are differences between FH and SH in terms of vocabulary acquisition and grammatical complexity. This study has implications for future research on vocabulary development of Hindi speaking children and the use of MCDI for bilingual and multilingual children.