Standardization of Receptive Expressive Emergent Language Skills for Kannada Speaking Children

Abstract

Language development is a process that starts early in human life, when a person begins to acquire language by learning it as it is spoken and by imitation. Child language development moves from simple to complex. Many tests have been developed to assess language in toddlers. Even though they have been developed many decades back, they are still in practice in almost all clinics in India. But the tests need to be revised and standardized because children are observed to be developing many skills at very early years of age. The present study was undertaken to standardize REELS (Receptive Expressive Emergent Language Scales – Bzoch and League 1971.) for children exposed to Kannada language. 720 children from all over Karnataka with age range of 0-3yrs served as subjects for the study. The children were divided into different age ranges 0-3 months to 33-36months. The milestones in REELS both receptive and expressive skills were adapted (modified to suit south Indian context of Kannada), numbered and used for the study as questionnaire that was administered to the parents/caregivers. The responses were tabulated and analyzed. The results collected from all three regions of North, South and Coastal Karnataka was gathered and standard deviation was calculated. There was highly significant differences seen in 1st to 3rd year however, the milestones did not differ significantly in the lower age group that is less than 1 year. The revised REELS contain the skills, which have been shifted to lower age group using 80% criteria. . Further the scale need to be standardized separately for rural and urban areas with equal number of skills throughout the age ranges.