A method to develop vocabulary checklists in new languages and their validity to assess early language development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Since the adoption of United Nations' Sustainable Goal 4.2 to ensure that all children have access to quality early child development (ECD) so that they are ready for primary education, the demand for valid ECD assessments has increased in contexts where they do not yet exist. The development of early language ability is important for school readiness. Our objective was to evaluate the validity of a method to develop vocabulary checklists in new languages to assess early language development, based on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories.

Methods

Through asking mothers of young children what words their children say and through pilot testing, we developed 100-word vocabulary checklists in multilingual contexts in Malawi and Ghana. In Malawi, w

SUBMITTER: Prado EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5948920 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature