Development and Validation of a Scale to Detect Late Language Emergence in Spanish-Speaking Children

Detecting late talkers among children is important because they are at greater risk of subsequently manifesting persistent disorders in language development. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have quick measurement tools with adequate psychometric properties, which have not yet been developed. This study set out to develop, analyse and validate the factor structure of an observational scale for detecting Late Language Emergence (LLE) in Spanish-speaking children aged 2-3 years that could be applied not only by language professionals but also teachers in early childhood education centres for children aged 0-3 years.

The sample comprised 364 children aged 24-38 months (M = 31.93; SD = 3.512; 49.7% girls).

The estimated reliability coefficients ranged from ω = .77 to ω = .97. Factor analyses indicated that the best model explaining the scale's assessment criteria was articulated around five factors: phonology, lexical semantics, morphosyntax, comprehension and communication. The correlations between the dimensions of the scale and those of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory were statistically significant.

The scale to detect late talkers among Spanish children appears to be a concise, simple instrument with suitable psychometric properties.