LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app

<strong>Purpose. </strong>Oral language skills provide a critical foundation for formal education and especially for the development of children’s literacy (reading and spelling) skills. It is therefore important for teachers to be able to assess children’s language skills, especially if...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hulme, C, McGrane, J, Duta, M, West, G, Cripps, D, Dasgupta, A, Hearne, S, Gardner, R, Snowling, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2024
_version_ 1811140111801253888
author Hulme, C
McGrane, J
Duta, M
West, G
Cripps, D
Dasgupta, A
Hearne, S
Gardner, R
Snowling, M
author_facet Hulme, C
McGrane, J
Duta, M
West, G
Cripps, D
Dasgupta, A
Hearne, S
Gardner, R
Snowling, M
author_sort Hulme, C
collection OXFORD
description <strong>Purpose. </strong>Oral language skills provide a critical foundation for formal education and especially for the development of children’s literacy (reading and spelling) skills. It is therefore important for teachers to be able to assess children’s language skills, especially if they are concerned about their learning. We report the development and standardization of a mobile App, LanguageScreen (OxEd and Assessment, 2022), that can be used by education professionals to assess children’s language ability. <br><strong> Methods. </strong>The standardization sample included data from approximately 350,000 children aged 3:06 to 8:11 years who were screened for receptive and expressive language skills using LanguageScreen. Rasch scaling was used to select items of appropriate difficulty on a single unidimensional scale. <br><strong> Results. </strong>LanguageScreen has excellent psychometric properties including high reliability, good fit to the Rasch model and minimal differential item functioning across key student groups. Girls outperformed boys and children with English as an additional language scored less well than monolingual English speakers. <br><strong> Conclusions. </strong>LanguageScreen provides an easy to use, reliable, child-friendly means of identifying children with language difficulties. Its use in schools may serve to raise teachers’ awareness of variations in language skills and their importance for educational practice.
first_indexed 2024-04-23T08:25:20Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:3f4ff039-7170-4f11-a88d-1c5aa26cd454
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-09-25T04:16:48Z
publishDate 2024
publisher American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:3f4ff039-7170-4f11-a88d-1c5aa26cd4542024-07-24T09:50:10ZLanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment appJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:3f4ff039-7170-4f11-a88d-1c5aa26cd454EnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing Association2024Hulme, CMcGrane, JDuta, MWest, GCripps, DDasgupta, AHearne, SGardner, RSnowling, M<strong>Purpose. </strong>Oral language skills provide a critical foundation for formal education and especially for the development of children’s literacy (reading and spelling) skills. It is therefore important for teachers to be able to assess children’s language skills, especially if they are concerned about their learning. We report the development and standardization of a mobile App, LanguageScreen (OxEd and Assessment, 2022), that can be used by education professionals to assess children’s language ability. <br><strong> Methods. </strong>The standardization sample included data from approximately 350,000 children aged 3:06 to 8:11 years who were screened for receptive and expressive language skills using LanguageScreen. Rasch scaling was used to select items of appropriate difficulty on a single unidimensional scale. <br><strong> Results. </strong>LanguageScreen has excellent psychometric properties including high reliability, good fit to the Rasch model and minimal differential item functioning across key student groups. Girls outperformed boys and children with English as an additional language scored less well than monolingual English speakers. <br><strong> Conclusions. </strong>LanguageScreen provides an easy to use, reliable, child-friendly means of identifying children with language difficulties. Its use in schools may serve to raise teachers’ awareness of variations in language skills and their importance for educational practice.
spellingShingle Hulme, C
McGrane, J
Duta, M
West, G
Cripps, D
Dasgupta, A
Hearne, S
Gardner, R
Snowling, M
LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title_full LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title_fullStr LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title_full_unstemmed LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title_short LanguageScreen: the development, validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
title_sort languagescreen the development validation and standardization of an automated language assessment app
work_keys_str_mv AT hulmec languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT mcgranej languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT dutam languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT westg languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT crippsd languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT dasguptaa languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT hearnes languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT gardnerr languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp
AT snowlingm languagescreenthedevelopmentvalidationandstandardizationofanautomatedlanguageassessmentapp