Validity Evidence for the LittlEARS Early Speech Production Questionnaire: An English-Speaking, Canadian Sample

Abstract

Purpose This study reports validity evidence for an English translation of the LittlEARS Early Speech Production Questionnaire (LEESPQ). The LEESPQ was designed to support early spoken language outcome monitoring in young children who are deaf/hard of hearing. Methods Data from 90 children with normal hearing, ages 0–18 months, are reported. Parents completed the LEESPQ in addition to a concurrent measure of spoken language development, the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test–Third Edition. Normal hearing status and development were confirmed. Results Traditional scale analyses, in addition to item parameters, are reported. The LEESPQ was highly correlated with the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test–Third Edition ( r = .92) and age ( r = .90) and had high internal consistency (Ω = 0.92). Common factor analysis revealed 2 underlying factors conceptually mapping onto items measuring vocal and symbolic development. A latent traits model was the best fit to the data, and item difficulty broadly conformed to theoretical expectations. Conclusions The present work demonstrates that the LEESPQ accurately captures early spoken language development in a typically developing group of young children. The LEESPQ holds promise as a clinically feasible, spoken language outcome monitoring tool. Future work to identify differences in performance characteristics between typically developing children and clinical populations is warranted.

Validation of LittlEARS® Early Speech Production Questionnaire in Arabic-speaking children with normal hearing

“…This has been demonstrated by the significant Pearson correlation between the age of children and the parents' responses to the questionnaire. Similar results have been reported in other related studies [4][5][6] indicating that older children have improved speech production abilities as measured by LEESPQ. On the other hand, there was no influence of gender (p=0.12) or bilingualism (p=0.28) on the early speech production in the Arabic-speaking children as reported in the studies of validating the Turkish and German versions of LEESPQ.…”

“…These results were in accordance with the results of similar studies of validating LEESPQ for other languages. [4][5][6] Moreover, the results of the current study confirmed that Arabic-LEESPQ scores are significantly correlated with age. This has been demonstrated by the significant Pearson correlation between the age of children and the parents' responses to the questionnaire.…”

“…To date, the LEESPQ has been validated in German on 362 children with normal hearing (NH), 5 in Turkish on 222 children with NH, 6 and in one English version in Canada on 90 children with NH. 4 No validated tools are available in the Arabic-speaking region for the assessment of language development in Arabic-speaking infants. Therefore, the primary aim of the current study was to test the validity of the Arabic version of the LEESPQ as an assessment tool for early speech production in Arabic-speaking children with NH in Saudi Arabia.…”

“…The LEESPQ focuses on reflexive behavior, precanonical vocalizations, canonical vocalizations, and postcanonical vocalizations in children up to 18 months old. 4 The questions cover the following speech production steps: production of reflexive sounds, expression of well-being, vowel production similar to adults, second babbling phase, word-like utterances, sound-object association, and production of first words. To date, the LEESPQ has been validated in German on 362 children with normal hearing (NH), 5 in Turkish on 222 children with NH, 6 and in one English version in Canada on 90 children with NH.…”

“…To date, the LEESPQ has been validated in German on 362 children with normal hearing (NH), 5 in Turkish on 222 children with NH, 6 and in one English version in Canada on 90 children with NH. 4 …”