Zumm Briefing Paper

Zungumza na Mtoto Mchanga
Talk to Your Baby
Report of a Research and Intervention Study 2013 – 2015
by
Janet and David Townend
ZUMM Founding Directors
This study was project managed by Children in Crossfire Tanzania (CiC Tz)
and
Matthew Banks
Director of International Programmes, Children in Crossfire Northern Ireland (CiC NI)
Local Partners:
• Children’s Development Trust Fund Network (CDTFN), Morogoro (main study)
• Sharing Worlds Tanzania (SWT), Dodoma (main study)
• Tanzania Home Economics Association (TAHEA), Mwanza (main study)
• Tanzania Women’s Research Foundation (TAWREF), Moshi (pilot study and main study)
• Chole Society for Women’s Development (CSWD), Mafia (pilot study)
• Mita Parish, Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Mvumi, Dodoma (pre-pilot work)
16 Page Briefing Paper.indd 1 01/12/2015 08:17

Zungumza na Mtoto Mchanga Talk to Your Baby

Zungumza na Mtoto MchangaTalk to Your Baby
How ZUMM came into being
We noticed, when we came to live in Tanzania in 2008, that mothers do not talk to their babies very
much, from birth. Everywhere we went, we saw babies with lively eyes, obviously curious about their
environment, but with silent mouths. Many Tanzanian people, mostly women, have confirmed that,
usually, infants are not talked to much until they begin to speak. Of course, there are exceptions, and of
course, many mothers do sing to their infants. When we stress that by ‘babies’ we mean infants in the
first year of life, people become more certain that there is not very much verbal interaction between
these babies and their parents and carers.
Talking very much, in the right way, to tiny babies, is critically important for their development, as you
can read in the next section. We talked to many, many people over the next two years, and gathered a
good deal of enthusiasm for the idea, as people came to realise its importance.
A group of about 24 stakeholders from Government and Development Partners met at the end of
2011 to decide what to do; it was agreed that the first step should be a research study. Tanzania was
leading the way; this is the first study of the language environment of babies in sub-Saharan Africa. The
questions this study set out to address were:
• ‘What is the language environment of babies in the first year of life, in Tanzania?
• ‘How, if necessary, might it be developed, in such a way that the educational potential of infants and
children will be enhanced?’
During 2012, supported by Children in Crossfire, studies were carried out in Moshi Rural and on Chole
and Mafia Islands. UBS Optimus, a Swiss bank foundation, offered to fund a large-scale study, so the
research design was modified in the light of the findings from Moshi and Mafia, which became the pilot
studies. Authorisation from COSTECH was given in 2013, for a cluster randomised control trial of more
than 1,000 families in five Districts: Moshi Rural; Mvomero (Morogoro); Ilemela (Mwanza); Misungwi
(Mwanza); Bahi (Dodoma). By spreading the work across several regions, we hoped to identify any local
cultural differences in bringing up babies.
This was a long study; we wanted to engage with families while their babies were in their first year, but
to return to assess how much language they could understand when they were nearly two years old.
As far as we can ascertain, this is the first study of the language environment of babies in the first year
of life in Africa.

Some facts and figures about early language
Why should we talk to babies?
What the international experts say
There is a great deal of international evidence of the importance of talking to babies, very much, from birth, and in the right way, and an
unusual degree of agreement between the researchers. Here are some of their conclusions:
Brain development is at its peak at the beginning of life
The formation of links between brain cells is the physical process that lays down and fixes learning. Everything the human body and mind
can do, from the most basic process to the most complex, depends on these links.The basic links are laid down first, and the more complex
links build on the basic ones.This means that if the early‘brain wiring’is poor, what comes later will also be poor, like a house built on weak
foundations.
From“InBrief:thescienceofearlychildhooddevelopment”,HarvardUniversityCentreontheDevelopingChild.
Thisdiagramshowsthetimeframeforthesequenceofestablishingbrainconnectionsforvisionandhearing,followedbylanguage,followed
by the higher cognitive functions. Note that the shaded box represents the first year of life. Of course, babies are not talking at this age, but
the brain-wiring is being established. Clearly the period of greatest brain development for language is the first year of life.
Thebraindevelopmentdependsongeneticsandtheenvironment;thiswiringprocessdoesnotjusthappennaturally.Whilegenesdetermine
whenbrainlinksareformed,howtheyareformeddependsontheexperiencesoftheinfant.Thechildneedsgoodlanguageexperienceinthe
first year of life for successful brain development for language.
• Most of the brain connections for language are made between birth and the first birthday.
• A2yearoldchildwhodoesnotknow50words,andwhoisnotputting2ormorewordstogetherisconsideredtohavedelayed
language development, according to the internationally accepted definition.
• A three year old child should be using about 300 different words on average, including adjectives, and making quite long
sentences. (MacArthur-Bates, 2007)
• A baby in the UK or the USA, in an educated family, hears about 2,000 words per hour at home; in a family that is low on the
socio-economic scale, the figure is 600-800 words per hour.
• Roulstone et al (2011) show that there is a very strong correlation between a child’s spoken language skills at age 2 and that
child’s performance across all subjects on entering primary school.
Talkingtobabiestakesupnoadditionaltime;itcanbedoneduringnormaldailylife.Itisnotnecessaryfortimetobe
setasideforthisactivity,soitdoesnotinterferewithwork.

Interaction between the infant and the primary caregivers is of crucial importance
It is most important to talk to babies, and to respond to their attempts to communicate. If this interaction does not happen, or if it is
inappropriate(forexample,byaparentorcarerspeakingharshlytoababy),thenthebraindevelopmentdescribedintheprevioussectionis
adversely affected, and this can in turn affect future learning and even behaviour.
Babies like to communicate. The baby will be encouraged, by the parent’s responses, to interact and communicate more. As the parent
responds to the baby’s initiative (babbling, smiling, gesture, etc), the baby is developing motivation to communicate and listen, which, of
course, is essential to learning. If a 6-8 month old baby’s babbling brings no response, the baby will gradually stop babbling, and become
silent for a time.
Respondingwelltothesoundsbabiesmakehasbeenshowntoleadtobetterlanguageunderstandingat12months,andbetterunderstanding,
pronunciation and vocabulary at 2 and 3 years, compared with a control group. Long term studies have even shown that such children have
increased vocabulary comprehension at 12 years.The educational benefits are clear.
It is the quality of the interaction between caregiver and infant that makes the difference
It is often stated that babies develop well if they spend a lot of time with the mother. Research shows that this is not enough; what brings
aboutgooddevelopmentisthequalityofthetimespent.Inotherwords,whattheparentsdoismoreimportantthanjustbeingthere.Itdoes
not matter what their job is, or their financial situation, or how much the toys cost, but how they interact with their infant is very important
indeed.
“Poor mothers with few qualifications can improve their children’s progress and give them a better start at school by
engaging in activities at home that engage and stretch the child’s mind”
(Sylvaetal.,2008)
Researchers found that poorer and very young mothers talked less to their babies, spent much less time reading to them, and used more
negative comments compared to positive comments, than more educated and more mature mothers.
The success of literacy learning depends on spoken language skills
Thelinksbetweenearlylanguageskillsandliteracylearninghavebeenrecognisedformanyyears.Thereisaverystrongcorrelationbetween
a child’s spoken language skills at age 2 and that child’s performance across all subjects on entering primary school.The number of words a
childknowsatage5isthesinglebestpredictorofacademicsuccessthroughoutlife.Alleducationdependsonbeingabletounderstandwhat
one reads – comprehension.The research evidence is that reading comprehension depends crucially on spoken language skills. As we know,
the most important time for development of language skills is the first year of life.
Language skills are the key to poverty reduction for the individual
There is evidence that those who have good language skills (and now we know that these depend on the earliest experiences) have, on
average, fewer behaviour problems in childhood and adolescence, fewer mental illnesses, better employment opportunities, better social
integration and are less likely to engage in criminal activities.Those with good language skills will contribute to the economic growth of the
nation by becoming well-educated, engaging in professional and business activities, and paying taxes.They will in turn be parents who talk
to their babies, creating a strong home learning environment, thus benefiting future generations.
Tanzanian research supports the international evidence
According to a survey carried out in Moshi Rural, the link between early language and later success in education is not well known. In fact,
only 0.5% of respondents identified ‘intellectual development’ as a reason for talking to babies Nearly 60% of respondents did not start
talking to infants until either‘the child begins to see and hear’, (a few months old), or even later, when the infant begins to use words.
62% of respondents thought it was not important to talk to babies in the first six months of life; the main reasons were‘the baby would not
understand’and‘the grandparents would not permit it’.
(Alongerversionofthis‘InternationalResearch’canbereadatwww.childrenincrossfire.org/programmes/talktoyourbaby)

The Research Design

The Research Study
1,035babieswererecruited;883completedthestudy.60Tanzanianresearchassistantscollecteddatainthehomes,30localteachersledthe
capacity-building sessions for families, and the work was locally managed by four partner NGOs working in early childhood development.
The project was managed overall by Children in Crossfire, a UK registered NGO based in Dar es Salaam. Janet and DavidTownend, Founding
Directors of ZUMM, designed the study, produced all materials, worked closely with the translator, and visited all the partners on several
occasions to deliver training to the teams of data collectors and the teams of intervention facilitators.The CiC office liaised with the partner
organisations.The structure of the study can be seen inTable 1.
Table 1
Phase Activity
Phase 0
Families with young babies are recruited, in 2 separate, but similar communities in each of 5 Districts. One community in
each District is randomly assigned the position of‘Intervention’Group; the other community becomes the‘Control Group’.
Parents are told it is a study of child development; the details are kept deliberately vague to avoid compromising the
outcome.
Phase 1
Data collectors visit all families 3 times, on different days, at different times of day, each time recording the number of
words spoken to the baby in 30 minutes (so that a number of words per hour can be derived from the data).
A Knowledge, Attitudes & Practice (KAP) Survey is completed on visit 3 by interviewing the mother.
Phase 2a
Families in‘Intervention’communities receive 3 x 2 hour capacity-building sessions, led by a team of two facilitators,
usually qualified teachers, in groups of up to 30 (3 people from each family invited). Control Groups are left alone.
Phase 3 Data collectors return to all families and carry out 3 further word counts, and a second KAP Survey.
Phase 4
Data collectors return to all families when babies are 20-24 months old and administer a specially designed, simpleTest
of Language Comprehension to the babies.
Phase 2b Families in Control communities receive capacity-building, for ethical reasons, but after all data has been collected.
Phase 5 Data is analysed, conclusions drawn, report written and presented.
The Intervention sessions, designed by ZUMM, and delivered by the facilitators, were lively and varied, with many different activities:
• Group discussions
• Short talks on the importance of talking to babies
• Demonstrations of how to talk to a baby
• Practical activity: the parents tried it out for themselves
• Sharing experiences
• Watching and discussing the ZUMM DVD
• Making simple toys from scrap materials, suitable for a small baby (very popular!)
• Roleplay:smallgroupsrehearsedandthenperformedashortdramatoshowhowtheycouldtalktotheirbabyinagivensituation,such
as a family meal, or when working (also very popular!)
The work was carried out in all Districts at approximately the same time, and the data sent to the CiC office in Dar es Salaam where it was
recorded and sent to the ZUMM Directors for analysis.
Talkingtobabiesisagreatidea:itcostsnothing,soitissomethingeventhepoorestparentcandotogivetheirchild
thebestpossiblestartinlife,andtoimprovetheirfutureprospects,ineducationandbeyond.

As well as all the data they collected, the research assistants
were able to provide a number of interesting stories about their
experiences in the field, and passed on comments made by some
of the families.
Thedatacollectorsbecamefamiliarfacesinthevillagestheyvisited,
andwhentherewasagap,asbetweenthefirstandsecondroundof
word-count visits, they were missed by their new friends.They got
to know the families, accompanied mothers to the market, and to
the fields, sat in their homes and even shared food. A great sadness
for everyone involved in the study was the news that a very small
number of the babies had passed away between visits.
Itisnoteasytocarryoutlarge-scaleresearchonarelativelymodest
budget, especially with such a wide geographical spread. In rural
areas, transport and communications can be a challenge; the
data collectors and facilitators often had long journeys to villages.
Despite careful preparation, and everyone’s best efforts, delays
happened. Sometimes this meant that a window of opportunity
was lost, before the rains, for example, and visits had to stop until
the roads were passable again.
Recruiting families randomly proved to be a problem. It seemed
that the best way was to obtain lists of names of recently-delivered
mothers and their babies from the local health facility, information
that they were prepared to release. However, the list contained the
mothers’officialnames(agivennameandasurname),whileinthe
community they were known by the name of their firstborn child.
Matching up a name such as Neema Moyo with Mama Juma, who
had just given birth to a second child called Pendo became a very
big job indeed for the data collectors. It is to their credit that they
overcame the difficulties and succeeded in recruiting over 1,000
families.
In one or two places, either some of the parents or some of the
village elders were suspicious of what the data collectors were
doing, because, of course, if the data collectors admitted that they
were counting words, that would influence the behaviour of the
mothers.Thiscouldbeovercomebyareassuringvisitfromthelocal
project coordinator.
The facilitators reported that the families who attended the
capacity-building (Intervention) sessions seemed to enjoy the
experience. Among the most popular activities were the role play,
which was entered into with real enthusiasm, and the toy-making,
which in some places became quite competitive. They enjoyed the
short, specially made DVD, though many people found it difficult
to extract much learning from it. They learned most from the
practical, hands-on activities. This is something that has informed
the implementation stage, which is about to begin. It is clear from
the data and from the stories that learning and behaviour change
took place.
Some families moved away, or decided to drop out of the study,
but overall the attrition rate was low. The study began with 1,035
families, and 883 families remained until the end.
Inonevillage,theeldersadvisedthefamiliesnottoattendtheinterventionsessions;thefacilitatorsarrived,but
nobodycame!Localprojectcoordinatorstravelledouttoexplain,andtheproblemsweresolved.Themostseniorelder
wasthefirstpersonthroughthedoorwhenthemeetingwasre-scheduled,andwentawayhappy,totalktohislittle
granddaughter!
Challenges and Encouragements
A grandmother on Chole showing her granddaughter the
woodenspoon dolly’shehasmade.
This two-year old was a baby in the pre-pilot. Her mother
has learned the importance of imaginative play (but she
hadtogivethebearbacktoitsowner!)

The findings of the study

When analysing the data of skewed (irregular) distributions, best practice uses median values rather than mean values. The median value
represents the minimum level achieved by half the sample, and provides a figure which is not distorted by a small number of large scores. A
summaryofthemainfindingsisshowninTable2.
Table 2
Words per Hour spoken to
the baby
Language
Comprehension Test
Note:
CG = Control Groups
IG = Intervention Groups Baseline
Progress
%Increase
Baselineto
Progress
Score/80
Ratio IG/CG
All babies median 63 133 111 18
All babies
CG/IG
comparison
CG median 58 106 83 13
1.8
IG median 65 171 163 23
We can see, from Table 2, the number of words per hour spoken to
babies at the beginning of the study, (the ‘baseline’). This figure is
derived from an average score for each family of the word count on
the first three visits; it is similar in both groups. The Control Group
babies hear 58 words per hour, and the Intervention Group babies
hear 65; there is no significant difference.
If we look at the word count derived from the average of the second
three visits, we can see that the babies in the Control Groups are
now hearing 106 words per hour, an 83% increase. This should not
surprise us, although the Control Group parents had received no
training. Parents speak more to babies as they get older and more
responsive, so we would expect an increase in the number of words
spoken per hour (wph) in the Control Groups between the first word
counts (at 9 months) and the second (at 19 months).
Based on this‘natural’increase, we would expect the word count in
the Intervention Groups to rise from their baseline of 65 wph to 119
wph.However,theyactuallyincreasedto171wph.Thisrepresentsan
additional44%increase,whichcanbeattributedtotheintervention
(capacity-building) the families received. This figure is, inevitably,
an underestimate of the effectiveness of the capacity-building
sessions,becauseitwasnotpossibletoallowforthoseparentsinthe
Intervention Groups who did not attend the sessions.
On testing how much language the babies could understand, by a
simple test, we found that in the Control Groups the median score
was 13/80, while those in the Intervention Groups did better (by
77%), with a median score of 23/80. It was important to test the
babiesthemselves,toverifytheevidencefromthewordcounts.Now
thattheInterventionGroupmothersknewwhatwasbeingassessed,
after attending the training, they might speak more to the baby to
pleasethedatacollector.ThemuchhigherLCTscoresobtainedbythe
Intervention Group babies shows that the training of their parents
had been effective.
In summary, the major findings, shown in Table 2, reveal that the
language environment was very poor among both groups, with
few words spoken to babies in the first year of life. However, the
Intervention Group parents demonstrated behaviour change in
their increase in the number of words spoken to their babies. This
is confirmed by the higher scores attained by their babies in the
Language ComprehensionTest.
This photograph was taken just moments after the mother
firstfoundhervoicetotalktoherbaby.

Table 3 shows the same information in diagram form.
Table 3
The KAP Surveys revealed that there was very little knowledge among the families about the importance of talking to babies from birth, or
how to do so. However, they revealed no cultural barriers to talking to tiny babies. It is clear from the differences in responses between KAP
1 and KAP 2 that learning had indeed taken place, which supports the evidence of the Language ComprehensionTest and second round of
word counts. Many parents, once they know why, and especially how, to talk to their babies, change their behaviour and begin to talk more.
A number of other useful details emerged from the KAP surveys: for example, it was clear that what parents had learned about talking to
babies came mostly from demonstrations and trying it out for themselves. They learned from experience much more than from being told
facts. Apart from the data, several interesting stories were collected by the teams, and some of them can be read in this report. Some of the
stories come from our pre-pilot work in Mvumi (Dodoma), others from the pilot studies carried out in Moshi Rural and on Chole and Mafia
Islands, and yet others from the five Districts where the main study was carried out. Many families reported that, when they talked to their
babies, the babies became happier and that the fathers became more involved as they saw how the babies responded to language.
Atonemeeting,thefacilitatoraskedthefamiliesiftheytalkedtotheirbabies.“Yeswedo!”camethereply.Slightly
takenaback,sheaskedthemwhatsortofthingstheysaid.Theiranswersincluded“Iftheyaredoingsomethingbad,
wetellthemnotto”,and“Wesendthemtofetchthingsforus”.Thisdidnotsoundlikethesortofthingonewouldbe
sayingtoababy,sothefacilitatoraskedafollow-upquestion.“Atwhatagedoyoustarttalkingtoyourbabies?”“18
months,”saidone.“No,olderthanthat–twoyears”,addedanother.“Morelikethree,”camethelastreply!
“Wouldyoubesurprisedtohear”,sheasked,“thatitisveryimportanttotalktobabiesfrombirth?”
“Thewholeworldwouldbesurprisedtohearthat”,remarkedayoungmotheronthefrontrow.
Babieslove–andneed–repetition,soparentsshouldsaythesamethingsoverandover,usethesamewordsand
sentenceswhenfeedingorwashingthebaby.Itisnotnecessarytokeepthinkingofnewthingstosay.

The most striking conclusion is what the study revealed about the
present language environment that our babies are experiencing.
When we consider that adults normally speak at about 120 words
per minute, it is clear that the babies at the start of the study were
beingspokentoforlessthanoneminuteineachwakinghour!Even
after training, the Intervention Group families, who were talking
much more to their babies than the Control Group families, were
still only speaking to them for less than two minutes per hour.This
is a significant increase, and even that number of additional words
heard by the baby led to improved understanding of language.
However, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before babies
inTanzania have the rich early language experience that they need
in order to reach their potential.
The study demonstrated that behaviour change can be brought
about by information presented in an accessible way. Fears that
there may be cultural barriers proved unfounded, and families, on
thewhole,embracedtheideaswithenthusiasm.Thereappearedto
benoresistancefromgrandparents,andbecausetherewasagroup
of families involved, the fear of being thought ‘crazy’ for talking
to a baby was mitigated. On the contrary, there is some evidence
that some families shared their new knowledge with friends and
neighbours, helping to spread the messages.
A question that arises is ‘Why did the mothers who attended the
intervention not learn more?’ It is very striking that the families
who attended the intervention learned most from practical work
and from experience. They were rewarded by their babies, who
responded with sounds, smiles and gestures as they were spoken
to. Considerable learning did take place, but the increase in ‘head
knowledge’ was less than might have been expected. The most
effective learning seemed to be that which was concerned with
the ‘here and now’. For example, the fact that talking to babies is
a powerful way to enhance their future educational prospects,
beginning with better chances of literacy learning, did not seem
to resonate much with parents, although it is one of the most
important reasons for doing so.
Someofthemothers’responsestoquestionsinthefirstKAPSurvey
were very striking, especially the evidence of how many believed
that babies are unable to hear at birth (80%). Only 11% of them
believed that it was important to start talking to their babies at
birth or before, using real language; two thirds believed it was
unnecessary until after the baby was six months old, and half of
those thought it was unnecessary until after the first birthday.
ItbecameclearfromtheKAP1responsesthatingeneral,themothers
had very low expectations for their infants’language development,
which is not surprising in view of the beliefs mentioned in the last
paragraph. One third of the mothers did not expect a child to start
using words with meaning until 18 months, and a fifth of them
did not expect words until two years or over. More than half the
mothers expect the child to have 20 words or fewer at age 2, and
two thirds did not expect more than 40 words at two. Two thirds
of the mothers did not expect the infant to put words together
until after his second birthday.These statistics should be compared
with the internationally recognised definition of delayed language
development: having fewer than 50 words, and not putting two or
more words together by age two. Note also that vocabulary (how
many different words the child knows) is the best single predictor
of educational success.
These results clearly show that there is a great need for the
messages of ZUMM to reach communities, especially when we
consider how important early language is to literacy and to
educational outcomes. The good news is that the main barrier to
parents talking to babies is simply that they do not know how to,
or even that they should. Once parents have been told, and shown,
how to talk to their babies, many of them change their behaviour.
Because the baby rewards the parents by responding with smiles
and sounds, this new behaviour continues and often spreads
through the community.
The intervention took the form of three two-hour sessions; this
is an expensive method of spreading knowledge and skills, and
requires considerable commitment on the part of the families. It
has never been intended that the purpose of the research was to
test a form of intervention that could be ‘rolled-out’ more widely.
The purpose of the intervention was to ascertain whether the
language environment of the infants could be improved, and how,
in order to inform plans for future implementation of a‘Talk toYour
Baby’campaign, if it were needed. It has been shown that such a
campaign is very much needed, and if designed in the right way,
has the potential to be very effective.
Conclusions
TheInterventionProgrammehadaremarkableeffectonsomefathers:
Onesaidhenowwantedaspecialtimeeachdaywithhisbaby,sohewouldtakeoverthedailybath.
Another,soonaftertheIntervention,tookhisbabydaughtertotheclinic,insteadofsendingherwithhiswife.
Oneyoungfatherborrowedakangafromhiswifeandleftcarryinghisbabyonhisback!Nobodyhadseenthathappen
before.

Recommendations

There is now enough evidence to begin to implement the ZUMM messages in a series of initiatives under the umbrella title ‘ZUMM into
Action’. In order to make any initiative sustainable, the involvement of Government is essential, and especially desirable is acceptance of the
factthat‘educationbeginsatbirth,andtheparentsareachild’sfirstteachers’.Acoming-togetherofthethreeMinistriesmostcloselyinvolved
inthelivesofyoungchildren(MinistryofHealthandSocialWelfare,MinistryofCommunityDevelopment,GenderandChildren,andMinistry
of Education andVocationalTraining) to spread this message would indeed be a powerful force.
It is especially important to promote the ZUMM key messages to mothers of newborn infants. One way to achieve this is to combine the
message of the benefits of a rich language environment with the message about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six
months of life. ZUMM has found the strap-line“Feed the body, feed the brain”is very well received by mothers. Local nutrition officers and
clinic nurses are very well placed to spread these important messages to new mothers.
Animportantconsiderationisthelowlevelofexpectationsofearlychildhoodlanguageamongthefamiliesstudied.OneaimofZUMMgoing
forward must be to raise expectations of what infants are capable of, by carefully planned capacity-building for parents. Memorable and
meaningful slogans, practical, experiential learning, repetition and the establishment of new habits should be key components of all future
ZUMM initiatives.
Behaviour change is brought about in a number of ways: information comes in from outside, ideally through a number of sources (the clinic,
theradio,villagemeetings,etc)andencouragementtoembracethemessagesandchangebehaviourcomesfromwithin:friendsandfamily,
neighbours, as well as local leadership, including village elders, village chairpersons, and faith group leaders. A successful campaign needs
to address both levels and to target communities through a number of routes.Table 4 shows how important the clinic nurse is as a source of
chidcare information to mothers.
Table4
Sustainability can best be achieved by using existing channels of information dissemination, particularly because these require nothing
new to be set up; they are ongoing, and as they become embedded, they do not incur any additional costs. One example of this would be to
include a short capacity-building module about ZUMM in the training of clinic nurses; there are many others.
The future

Theevidencegeneratedbythisstudy,thatthereisaverystrongneedfortheknowledgetoreachparentsofyoungbabies,andthatbehaviour
change in talking to babies is possible, provides a firm base on which to build for the future.
Work has already begun on the implementation stage, and plans are moving forward rapidly.The initiatives introduced below are expected
to be put into place over the next three years.

Knowledge about early childhood development is growing, and child rearing practice has changed over the generations in the more-
developed countries in the light of this. Several countries, including the Netherlands, the UK and the USA, have had information campaigns
in recent years to promote talking to babies. It appears that there has not been such a campaign in Africa up to now.Tanzania is leading in
this initiative in Africa, and it is certain that lessons learned here will be used elsewhere.
ZUMM into Action 1
This three year project with CiC is to develop
high-quality training courses and resources,
including self-study options and a film,
and make them available, cost-free, from
a dedicated website. Janet & David will be
leading the work, based in Dar es Salaam
for at least two months a year, and a Project
Coordinator will be appointed. We very much
hope that Government and Development
Partners will participate.
ZUMM into Action 3
In 2013, a successful funding bid to GPE
included $500,000 for ZUMM.
The project was to develop courses to train
Adult Literacy tutors about ZUMM and how to
deliver a specially written capacity-building
programme for adult literacy students, many
of whom are, of course, parents, and to trial
the programme in 9 Districts. We hope the
funding, now transferred to PMO-RALG for
implementation, will soon be available.
ZUMM into Action 2
ZUMM is partnering with Development Media
International (DMI) to seek funding to develop
an 18 month ZUMM national radio campaign,
from 2016. It will include information slots,
drama, phone-ins, and more.
Beginning in Tanzania, the plan is to go
international after that, and take ZUMM to
other developing countries.
ZUMM into Action 4
ZUMM has been invited by DFID to partner
with them on a large Stunting project in Lake
Zone, called ASTUTE. It is clear from research
evidence that stunting is best addressed by a
combinationofnutritionandmakingthechild’s
environment more stimulating, including of
course,language.(UNICEFwillbedoingsimilar
work on stunting in southernTanzania).
ZUMM
into Action
...and more to come...
• ZUMM has started discussion with UNICEF about whether its messages could be included in a regional (East Africa) child
development project.
• ZUMM has been asked to provide material to be included in an ECD television series inTanzania.

How can busy people talk to babies?
Talkingtobabiestakesupnoadditionaltime;itcanbedoneduringtheprocessofdailylife.Itisnotnecessaryfortimetobesetasideforthis
activity, so it does not interfere with work. Mother, father, grandparent or whoever is with the baby, carrying him or her on the back, or just
beinginthesameroom,cantellthebabyhowbeautifulheorsheis,orhowmuchheorsheisloved.Theycanalsogivearunningcommentary
on the activities going on. For example, the parent or carer may be washing dishes and saying things like this:
‘Are you watching me wash the dishes?’
‘Here’s a dirty plate – here comes the water – oh look, now it’s clean!’
Instead of washing the baby in silence, the parent or carer could be chatting during the activity:
‘Let’s wash your face - and your hands – one hand, two hands – now your tummy….’
In this way, and by naming things, and asking questions as the baby is carried around (even on the mother’s back), in the house, on the
shamba,inthevillageoronthedaladala,thebabyishearingmanyofthewordsheorshewillbeusinginthemonthstocome.Heorshewill
not, at this stage, understand everything, but all the language being heard will be feeding and contributing to the developing brain.
‘Can you see the flower? Isn’t it pretty? Shall we look at it? It’s blue, isn’t it? etc, etc’,
Of course, at first the baby will appear to be making no response. Gradually, the parents will notice how he or she looks at whoever is
speaking, and at a few months old will start to make noises, which the parents or carers should copy, while looking at the baby and smiling;
the first‘conversation’is taking place! It is not necessary to think of many new things to say; babies need many repetitions, so, for example,
it is good to name the parts of the body every day while washing the baby. Singing to babies is also good for language development but,
alone, it is not enough.
When talking to babies, older children and adults naturally, it seems, speak more slowly than usual, exaggerate the intonation patterns (the
voice goes up and down much more), extend the length of the vowels (so the sounds are exaggerated) and they use many repetitions.This
is exactly what young babies need. All of this stimulates activity in the brain that leads to the baby“babbling’. Babbling is the stage before
usingrealwords‘bababa’‘mumumum’‘gangganggang’etc.Thisstageshouldbeencouragedandrespondedtobyparentsandcarers;itisan
essentialstageinlearningtotalk.Babiesbabblenaturally,andiftheyhearalotoflanguage,spokenintherightway,theywillbabblemore,
and go on to use many words a few months later. Babies who are not spoken to very much cease to babble, and their language acquisition
will be slowed down and their potential put at risk.
These are very strong words, but the scientific evidence is quite clear.We ignore it at the peril of future generations.
Aftereachtrainingdayfordatacollectorsorfacilitators,theZUMMDirectorsaskedthelearnerstocompleteafeedbacksheetabout
whattheyhadlearnedandiftheknowledgehadbeenputacrossclearly,andsoon.Wewerestruckbysomeoftherepliestoone
questionposedattheendofthetrainingdayonhowtoadministertheLanguageComprehensionTest:
Thequestionwas:Haveyoulearnedanythingtodaythathasamazedyou?”
Amongtheresponseswerethefollowing:
“Itisamazingforababytoknowthepartsofthebodybeforeattendingschool.”(Theinfants,at21months,areaskedtopointto
theirhair,thenhand,ear,mouthandfinally,theirfoot).
“Iamamazedtoseesomequestionsaskingababytoidentify(pointto)differentmaterials,forexampleacupandaspoon”.
Whenweintroducedthetest,someoneremarked,“Atthisage,ourchildrencandonothing!”

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2006. Cited in DfE/DoH‘Supporting families in the foundation years’. London, UK: HMSO, 2011.
Cain, K. and Oakhill, J.‘Children’scomprehensionproblemsinoralandwrittenlanguage’. Guilford Press,
2007.
Hart, B. and Risley,T.R.‘Theearlycatastrophe:The30millionwordgapbyage3.’American Educator,
Spring 2003, pp. 4-9.
Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child.‘InBrief:thescienceofearlychildhooddevelopment’.
www.developingchild.harvard.edu . 2007.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ‘Theimportanceofattitudesandbehaviourforpoorerchildren’seducational attainment’.
London, UK: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2010.
McGowan, M., Smith, L., Noria, C., Culpepper, C., Langhinrischen-Rohling, J., Borkowski, J. and Turner, L. ‘Intervening with at-risk mothers:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the following individuals and organisations, without whose support and willing involvement this study, and the
Zungumza na Mtoto Mchanga initiative, would never have come into being:
Children in Crossfire International, Londonderry; Children in Crossfire, Tanzania; Voluntary Service Overseas; Mr Salum Mnjagila and
colleagues at the Directorate of Adult and Non-formal Education, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Tanzania; members of
the ZUMM Project Coordination Team, Dar es Salaam; local partner organisations: Childhood Development Trust Fund Network (CDTFN),
Mvomero; Sharing Worlds Tanzania (SWT), Dodoma; Tanzania Home Economics Association (TAHEA), Mwanza; Tanzania Women’s Research
Foundation(TAWREF),Moshi;theorganisationswhoparticipatedinpilotandpre-pilotstudies;and,ofcourse,allthefamilieswhotookpart.
TheyalsowishtothankProfessorMargaretSnowling,PresidentofStJohn’sCollege,Oxford,andProfessorCharlesHulme,UniversityCollege,
London, for their advice and encouragement.
This study was kindly funded by UBS Optimus Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Janet Townend is a speech and language therapist, specialist teacher in literacy and dyslexia, teacher trainer and author. David Townend taught
chemistry at Eton College for 38 years, and was involved in many aspects of school life. Since retiring in 2006, they have worked as professional
volunteertutorsandtutormentorsatalargeGovernmentTeacherTrainingCollegeinTanzania,andestablishedthe‘ZungumzanaMtotoMchanga’
(ZUMM)or‘TalktoYourBaby’initiative.
CONTACT DETAILS
For more information about ZUMM:
Visit www.childrenincrossfire.org/programmes/talktoyourbaby or email jantownend@gmail.com
For more information about CiC:
Visit www.childrenincrossfire.org

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