Development of an Arabic test for assessment of semantics for the Arabic-speaking children: the Arabic semantic test

Abstract

Abstract Background Semantics is the study of meaning, and it pertains to the meanings of linguistic expressions such as words, phrases, grammatical forms, and sentences. Studying semantic development for preschool children has several applications in research design, assessment, and intervention. In English and most Indo-European languages, there is a long tradition of examining aspects of child language by computing different developmental indices from spontaneous language samples and by applying different language tests. However, for the Arabic language, these aspects are lacking in this valuable area of research. Thus, this study aimed to develop and standardize a comprehensive test for assessing semantic language development suitable for preschool children in Arabic-speaking countries. The constructed Arabic semantic test (AST) was administered to 120 typically developed Egyptian Arabic-speaking children between the ages of 2 to ≤ 4 years divided into 4 age groups, with a 6-month age interval between each group. Children’s responses were statistically analyzed to assess the test’s validity and reliability. Ranks of percentiles were calculated to describe the semantic language development in preschool Egyptian Arabic-speaking children. Results A statistically significant difference was found over the scores of the Arabic semantic test in both receptive and expressive aspects of semantics among the 4 participating age groups. Semantic growth was positively correlated to the chronological age of the participating children, with good validity and reliability of the test. Conclusions The Arabic semantic test is a valid and reliable test that can be applied to assess semantic development among preschool Arabic-speaking children.

Keywords

• Semantics development
• Lexical semantics
• Arabic-speaking Children