Development & Validation of Urdu Receptive Language Scale (URLS)

OBJECTIVES: To develop “Urdu Receptive Language Scale (URLS)” for Urdu speaking Pakistani children of age 0-6 years. METHODS: This exploratory study was done at mainstream schools and day care centers on children with normal language development between the ages of 0-6 years from 1(st) March 2016 to 31(st) August 2016, by using convenient sampling technique. Firstly, the items for the questionnaire were constructed from four sources: literature review, experts, parents and direct observation of 384 Children of same age. Secondly the constructed test items were sent to the field experts (SLP’s) for the purpose of improvement. Thirdly, after incorporation of suggestions, the improved items were securitized by Urdu experts and finalized. In the next step, these items were tested for Relevance, Ambiguity, Clarity and Simplicity from field experts. The developed scale was then analyzed for reliability and validity by SPSS Version-18. RESULTS: Study resulted in a 59 items Urdu Receptive Language Scale with each age range having different test items distribution. The mean of the relevance, clarity, simplicity, and ambiguity of test items was 3.89. The Item content validity index value was one for each of the 59 items. The content validity index for the entire scale was also one. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.948, which indicates a high level of internal consistency. CONCLUSION: The developed 59 Item Urdu Receptive Language Scale is reliable and valid tool for language assessment of Urdu speaking Pakistani children of 0-6 years age.