Status: COMPLETE

Contact: Michael C. Frank

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260 babies tested by 8 labs

38 authors from 13 countries on Developmental Science publication

Infants show a preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). This preference has been linked to infants’ language processing and word learning in experimental settings, and also correlates with later language outcomes. Recently, the cross-cultural consistency of infants’ IDS preference was confirmed by one of our other ManyBabies projects (MB1). However, data from this study were primarily from North American and European countries. MB1-Africa addresses this issue via a large-scale, multi-site study of African infants between the ages of 3-15 months. We investigate whether this understudied population shows a preference for IDS over ADS, and if so, whether the magnitude of their preference differs from estimates from other populations. The project is currently in progress. Please contact the leaders for more information.

Project Leads

MB1-Africa Contributors

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Publications

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Tsui, A. S. M., Carstensen, A., Kachergis, G., Cao, A., Abubakar, A., Asnake, M., Barry, O., Basnight-Brown, D. M., Bentu, D., Bergmann, C., Dami, E. B., Boll-Avetisyan, N., de Jongh, M., Diop, Y., Duah, R. A., Herrmann, E., Jang, C., Kizito, S., Lamba, T., … Frank, M. C. (2026). Exploring variation in infants’ preference for infant-directed speech: Evidence from a multi-site study in Africa. Developmental Science, 29(5), e70242. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.70242
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Angeline Sin Mei Tsui
Alexandra Carstensen
George Kachergis
Anjie Cao
Amina Abubakar
Mulat Asnake Goshu
Oumar Barry
Dana M. Basnight-Brown
Dangkat Bentu
Christina Bergmann
Evans Binan Dami
Natalie Boll-Avetisyan
Marguerite de Jongh
Yatma Diop
Reginald Akuoko Duah
Esther Herrmann
Chaning Jang
Simon Kizito
Tilinao Lamba
Limbika Maliwichi-Senganimalunje
Joyce Marangu
Maya B. Mathur
Catherine V. Mbagaya
Demeke Mekonnen Mengistie
Carmen Milton
Febronie Mushimiyimana
Mikateko Ndhambi
Irene Ngina
Eunice Njoroge
Paul Odhiambo Oburu
Asana Okocha
Paul Okyere Omane
Anisha Singh
Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata
Juliette Unyuzumutima
Henriette Zeidler
Casey Lew-Williams
Michael C. Frank

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