Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:58:26.815Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing Language Skills in Preschool Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2001

Julie E. Dockrell
Julie E. Dockrell
Affiliation:
Psychology & Special Needs, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1A 0AL
Get access

Abstract

This review outlines some of the difficulties involved in assessing preschool children's language development. Language is a sensitive indicator of a range of developmental difficulties yet the accurate identification of children who are experiencing delays or disorders is problematic. A range of different approaches are used to identify and assess language problems including norm-referenced assessments, questionnaires and language samples. Each of these is critically evaluated. In particular the reliability and validity of the measures and their ability to discriminate atypical patterns of development is considered. It is concluded that there are no simple assessment tools that identify and assess language development. Moreover, the use of single measures is considered inadequate for determining whether a child at any age has typical or delayed language. Ways to circumvent the limitations of the assessment tools are considered.

Keywords

Preschoollanguageassessment
Type
Original Article
Information
Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , May 2001 , pp. 74 - 85
Copyright
© 2001 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)