Prereading Assessment in Two Bilingual Contexts: Examining Predictive Validity of the Urdu Phonological...

Early assessment of prereading abilities is important for ensuring long-term reading, academic, and career-related success. Speech-language pathologists and educators commonly use prereading assessment tools to identify and support school-aged children's future reading abilities. However, most bilingual children, including Urdu-English bilinguals, do not have access to appropriate early prereading assessments within the school/educational system. This is due to the lack of language-appropriate prereading assessment tools. The current longitudinal study examines the predictive validity of the linguistically and culturally responsive Urdu Phonological Tele-Assessment (U-PASS) tool, including subtests for phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN), commonly assessed reading precursors.

Specifically, we investigated whether kindergarten-level Urdu phonological awareness and RAN skills predict the future Grade 1 Urdu reading accuracy and fluency skills of Urdu-English simultaneous bilinguals in two language contexts: in Pakistan (where Urdu is spoken as a national language; n = 104; Country Context 1) and in our exploratory study in Canada (where Urdu is spoken as a heritage language; n = 50; Country Context 2).

Hierarchical linear regression analyses demonstrate predictive validity of the U-PASS tool across the two country contexts. Particularly, Urdu phonological awareness emerged as a consistent longitudinal predictor of Urdu word/nonword reading accuracy and fluency, while RAN was a reliable predictor of the reading fluency measures.

The U-PASS tool provides access to linguistically and culturally responsive early prereading assessment and enables speech-language pathologists and educators to examine prereading skills in the heritage language of Urdu-speaking children across classrooms globally.