ABSTRACT
This study reports on the validation of the language domain subtest of a developmental assessment scale for Cantonese Chinese preschool children. Three hundred and seventy eight multi-stage randomly selected children between 3;4 and 6;3 years of age were tested on the 104-item subtest. Fifty-four of these children, spreading across three age groups, demonstrated developmental problems. Results from the Rasch analyses suggested that the original and the shortened 66-item version demonstrated adequate measurement properties, including targeting and uni-dimensionality. Statistical analyses of the shortened version suggested that the subtest demonstrated strong test-retest reliability, and adequate convergent and criterion validity. This study contributes to good practice in the development of standardized normative tests, particularly those for investigations of language problems in Chinese children given that reports on existing tests' psychometric properties were often incomplete.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Developmental Disabilities/diagnosis , Disability Evaluation , Language Development Disorders/diagnosis , Language Tests/standards , Psychometrics/standards , Asian People/psychology , Child , Child Language , Child, Preschool , Developmental Disabilities/psychology , Female , Hong Kong , Humans , Language Development Disorders/psychology , Male , Psychometrics/methods , Reproducibility of Results , SchoolsABSTRACT
This study reports on the development of the language subtest in the Preschool Developmental Assessment Scale (PDAS) for Cantonese-Chinese speaking children. A pilot pool of 158 items covering the two language modalities and the three language domains was developed. This initial item set was subsequently revised based on Rasch analyses of data from 324 multi-stage randomly selected children between 3 and 6 years of age. The revised 106-item set demonstrated adequate measurement properties, including targeting and uni-dimensionality. The revised 106-item set successfully discriminated preschool children in the three age groups, and between preschool children and their age peers with special education needs (SEN). Results from this study support the collection of normative data from a larger population sample of children to examine its accuracy in identifying language impairment in children with SEN. Test development procedures reported in this study provide insight for the development of language subtests in multi-domain developmental assessment tools for children speaking other varieties of Chinese.