Sequential bilingualism and language impairment: the Persian version of ALDeQ parental questionnaire

ABSTRACT

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the discriminant validity of the Persian version of Alberta Language Development Questionnaire (ALDeQ) in Turkish-Persian bilingual children, aged 75 months with 19 months of exposure to Persian, on average. The study sample included the parents of 22 bilingual children with language impairment (LI) and 114 with typical language development (TLD). The T-test results showed significant between-group differences regarding ALDeQ total scores, and for each section score, with medium to very large effect sizes. The linear discriminant function analysis showed the ALDeQ total score was a moderate to strong discriminator between TLD and LI group. The sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire were 0.80 and 0.89, respectively. The Persian version of ALDeQ is an appropriate tool for assessing the language development of Turkish-Persian bilingual children and can be used in conjunction with other measures to identify children suspected of LI.

KEYWORDS:

• Language impairment
• sequential bilingualism
• parent questionnaire
• ALDeQ
• sensitivity
• specificity

Acknowledgements

This article was extracted from the first author's PhD thesis in speech therapy and approved by the ethics committee of the university of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (ethics code, IR.USWR.REC.1396.141). We would like to thank all the parents and children who participated in the study, as well as all organizations and institutions involved. And I would like to thank Johanne Paradis, professor of linguistics at the University of Alberta, for permission to translate the ALDeQ in Persian.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gelavizh Karimijavan

Gelavizh Karimijavan is Ph.d student in slp and work as membership in Department of speech therapy, Rehabilitation faculty, Tabriz university of medical sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Abbas Ebadi

Abbas Ebadi is a professor in nursing who work as membership in Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Life style institute, faculty of nursing, Baqiyatallah university of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Fariba Yadegari

Fariba Yadegari are memberships in Department of speech therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Mehdi Dastjerdi Kazemi

Mehdi Dastjerdi Kazemi work as membership in Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

Akbar Darouie

Akbar Darouie are memberships in Department of speech therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Salah Eddin Karimi

Salah Eddin Karimi work in social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.