Exploring the nature of multilingual input to infants in multiple caregiver families in an African city: the case of Accra (Ghana)

Examining the language input experiences of infants growing up in multilingual Africanenvironments is essential to understanding their language acquisition. We explored the languageinput to 3;0 -12;0-month-old infants (N = 121) in Ghana (Sub-Saharan Africa), a non-Westernand less-economically rich social context and highly multilingual country. Data collectioninvolved an interview assessment, followed by caregivers completing a 12-hour logbook toindicate the languages their child heard over a day. Results demonstrated consistency of theinfant's language exposure across both input measurement tools, suggesting their reliability.Results revealed that Ghanaian infants are raised multilingually, exposed to between two and sixlanguages, and engage with between two and six regular input providers. There was no evidencefor associations of age with number of languages or regular input providers. Analyses of therelative amount of input in Ghanaian English, Akan, Ewe, and Ga, revealed that infants receiveless direct than indirect input in Ghanaian English, with no such difference observed in Akan,Ewe, Ga, and no evidence of age effects. These findings shed light on the language environmentand input to African infants raised in multilingual societies, highlighting the impact of social andcultural contexts on linguistic input. We conclude with reflections on studying infants in non-Western, less-economically Rich social contexts in multilingual Africa.