Kurdish Speech Test: A validation study for children aged 3-5 years

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology
• Psychometrics
• Linguistic Assessment

Background:

• Speech disorders are common in children, necessitating valid diagnostic tools.
• Existing tools may not adequately serve specific linguistic populations, like Kurdish speakers.
• Early and accurate evaluation is crucial for effective intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new speech test for Kurdish-speaking children aged 3-5 years.
• To establish the psychometric properties of this novel speech test.
• To provide a culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tool.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Kurdish Speech Test for children aged 3-5 years.
• Assessed content validity via expert opinions from speech-language pathologists and linguists.
• Determined reliability through test-retest and inter-rater scoring.
• Evaluated construct validity by examining age-related score differences.

Main Results:

• High intra- and inter-rater reliability confirmed the test's consistency.
• Construct validity was supported, with scores increasing with age.
• No significant gender-based differences were observed in test performance.

Conclusions:

• The Kurdish Speech Test is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating articulation in young children.
• The test is suitable for clinical use in assessing Kurdish-speaking children with speech sound disorders.
• This tool addresses a critical need for specialized speech assessment in this population.