ORCID
- Allegra Cattani: 0000-0003-3399-1368
- Jeremy Goslin: 0000-0001-7894-1140
- Caroline Floccia: 0000-0003-3931-9791
Abstract
Assessing a child’s language in the early years is critical to plan for an early intervention and maximize their learning potential. In a unique pan-Arabic approach to language development, we developed a new Arabic assessment tool, usable by parents and Early Years professionals to screen vocabulary in children between 8 months and 30 months across 17 Arab countries. Departing from the two relevant original Communicative Development Inventory forms (CDI: Words and Gestures and CDI: Words and Sentences, Fenson, Marchman, Thal, Reznick, & Bates, Citation2007), our Arabic CDI focuses on Words Only (Short Form), and assesses comprehension and production of a list of 100 words in 17 main dialects or Arabic, through a parental report. Data were collected from 436 Egyptian children and 168 children from the remaining 16 countries. Quasi-binomial model fits on Egyptian and Other Dialects comprehension and production data showed that Egyptian vocabulary norms could be reasonably extrapolated to the Other Dialects sample, as a first indication that the tool might be usable across the different countries.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2021-04-25
Publication Title
Language Learning and Development
ISSN
1547-5441
Acceptance Date
2021-03-27
Deposit Date
2021-05-17
Embargo Period
2022-04-25
Funding
This research was funded by an Egyptian Government PhD grant awarded to the first Author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
First Page
1
Last Page
22
Recommended Citation
Abdelwahab, A., Forbes, S., Cattani, A., Goslin, J., & Floccia, C. (2021) 'An Adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI in 17 Arabic Dialects for Children Aged 8 to 30 Months', Language Learning and Development, , pp. 1-22. Available at: 10.1080/15475441.2021.1916502
