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Assessing language development in Arabic: The Arabic language: Evaluation of function (ALEF)
Natalia V Rakhlin1, Abdullah Aljughaiman2, Elena L Grigorenko3,4,5,6
1Linguistics Program, Department of English, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Applied Neuropsychology. Child
|May 12, 2019
Summary
This study introduces the Arabic Language: Evaluation of Function (ALEF) battery, a new tool for assessing early language development in young Arabic speakers. The ALEF battery demonstrates good psychometric properties for evaluating language skills in children.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Arabic exhibits significant dialectal diversity, diglossia, and morphological complexity.
- A lack of comprehensive diagnostic tools hinders systematic evaluation of Arabic language development.
- Early identification of language difficulties in Arabic-speaking children is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate an assessment battery, Arabic Language: Evaluation of Function (ALEF), for children aged 3-11 years.
- To address the gap in systematic language development evaluation for Arabic-speaking children.
- To provide a tool for early identification of language difficulties.
Main Methods:
- Developed the Arabic Language: Evaluation of Function (ALEF) battery with 17 subtests.
- Administered the ALEF battery to 467 native Gulf Arabic-speaking children in Saudi Arabia (ages 2.5-10.92).
- Analyzed psychometric properties, including reliability and intercorrelations.
Main Results:
- ALEF subtests demonstrated high reliability coefficients (0.78-0.98) after item refinement.
- Subtest scores showed consistent positive intercorrelations and age effects.
- The ALEF battery exhibits good psychometric properties for evaluating early language development.
Conclusions:
- The ALEF battery is suitable for evaluating early language development in Gulf Arabic-speaking children.
- Further refinement, including differential item functioning analysis and norming, is recommended.
- ALEF can aid in the early identification of language difficulties in spoken and written Arabic.
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