Research

Psychometric Properties of the English–Spanish Vocabulary Inventory in Toddlers With and Without Early Language Delay

Source

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 2022 February

Summary

Vocabulary skills are a widely used marker of early language delay in toddlers and sets the foundation for future development of language and literacy. Despite the prevalence of bilingualism, most assessments and protocols designed to measure vocabulary skills use normative data from exclusively monolingual populations. This is problematic, as comparing the abilities of monolingual toddlers and bilingual toddlers are not always a direct relation. This study compared results of vocabulary assessment tools with a specific focus on a bilingual language assessment called the “English-Spanish Vocabulary Inventory.” Results indicated that using an assessment designed to accurately assess bilingual children led to more valid and reliable results for both within and cross-language knowledge.

Key Takeaway

Using monolingual instruments in bilingual contexts significantly under-counted lexical knowledge, and therefore gave incorrect diagnoses, as measured on a bilingual language assessment.

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