Vocabulary Assessment Scale: design, construction and pilot administration

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Published: Apr 12, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/jret.15899
Keywords:
Developmental Sensitivity Assessment Receptive Vocabulary Digital Psychometric Tool Preschool Age
Δήμητρα Καραπατσούδη
Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8615-1333
Abstract

Young children’s linguistic performance, being related with their cognitive, social and wider psychological development as well as with their subsequent reading and writing skills, is thought to constitute an important predictive factor of their subsequent school progress. In particular, children's vocabulary growth during the preschool years is considered as one of the most important indicators of potential language disorders. Early and accurate assessment of lexical deficits, thus, constitutes a significant need both for the clinical and the educational practice. This study aimed at the design, development and pilot administration of a digital receptive vocabulary test for preschool children. Across-sectional research design was adopted with children’s age as the main independent variable (comprising five age groups: 4;0 – 4;05 years, 4;06 – 4;11 years, 5;0 – 5;05 years, 5;6 – 5;11 years and 6;00-6;06 years), and the number of correct answers to the 54 items of the test as the main independent variable. The sample consisted of 352 healthy Greek-speaking preschool children (46% boys and 54% girls). During the pilot administration of the test, 54 sets of four images were presented in the pc-monitor. In each trial children had to select the picture that corresponded to the word of a vocal message. Statistical analyses indicated that 29 of the 54 items were sensitive to the developmental changes predicted by the children’s age. According to these results a new revised version of the test was produced for its subsequent standardization. Additional analyses indicated the developmental sensitivity of the total score of the test, and its high internal consistency (Cronbach a = 0.85). Overall, the results present preliminary evidence of the functionality of this new psychometric tool as a means for assessing preschoolers’ receptive vocabulary.

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