Language acquisition in a multilingual society: English vocabulary norms and predictors in Singaporean children

In this study, infant vocabulary development was tracked in a multilingual society (Singapore) within a socioeconomically diverse sample. The sample comprised 1316 infants from 17.4 to 27.7 months (669 females, 647 males; 88% Chinese race, 4% Malay, 4% Indian, and 0.004% mixed‐race [4% declined to provide race information]). Children varied in English language exposure and socioeconomic status. Analyses focused on identifying demographic predictors of English vocabulary size in multilingually exposed infants. Adaptations of the Macarthur‐Bates Communicative Development Inventory for English, Mandarin, and Malay are provided as well as English vocabulary norms that account for variation in English exposure. This manuscript reports the first set of English language norms—calibrated to English exposure—for multilingual infants in a non‐Western setting.