This project aims to develop a culturally appropriate Setswana Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) to assess early language development in children aged 8 to 30 months. Despite the critical importance of vocabulary growth and early communicative milestones in child development, there are currently no standardized tools for measuring typical language development in Setswana-speaking children. Drawing on the internationally validated MacArthur-Bates CDI framework, this study adapts and modifies the tool for the Setswana context through translation, cultural tailoring, and empirical validation.

The resulting instrument will provide a reliable method for tracking children’s word comprehension, expression, gesture use, and phrase understanding, enabling the early detection of developmental delays. This work fills a major gap in child language assessment in Botswana and will be of direct benefit to parents, educators, speech and language therapists, and policymakers. Scientifically, it contributes to the under-researched area of African child language development, positioning Botswana as a key contributor to global developmental psycholinguistics. The tool has the potential to transform how early language development is understood, assessed, and supported across Setswana-speaking communities.