Feasibility and acceptability of a web-based parent-report questionnaire for early communicative-language assessment in plurilingual Italian-speaking children

Abstract

Aims and objectives:

Early bilingual language assessment often focuses on lexical development. However, lexical tasks per se are not sufficiently informative of the child’s bilingual language development. Thus, other developmental communicative-language domains should be analysed within plurilingual language assessment.

Methodology:

Drawing on parent-report instruments currently used with plurilingual children, we developed a web-based questionnaire to complement early language assessment in children exposed to more than one language. The instrument not only asks parents about family language use and exposure but also taps into parental socio-conversational skills (SCS) skills and daily playing activities and routines with their child, as important features of the home language learning environment.

Data and analysis:

We conducted a feasibility study of our questionnaire on the parents of 30 plurilingual Italian-speaking toddlers (18 males; mean age = 28.73 months). Feasibility and acceptability have been measured through satisfaction rating scales reported by parents after they filled in our questionnaire, together with internal validity analyses.

Findings:

Out of 30 participants, 27 did not report any concerns regarding our questionnaire. We obtained scores of 8.55/10 (SD = 1.97; Mdn = 9) to estimate the degree of comprehension of the questions; 8.53/10 (SD = 1.76; Mdn = 9) for the degree of coherence and logic of the sequence of questions. Internal validity identified target domains, for example, parental SCS, exposure to digital device and age of first exposure to languages, with excellent internal consistency for parental SCS. Correlations revealed associations between items (e.g., parental responsiveness before and after their child’s first words onset; ρ = 0.406, p = .029) targeting the same concept (e.g., parental responsiveness).

Originality:

We developed and tested the first web-based parent-report questionnaire for evaluating the language environments of plurilingual Italian-speaking children (including parental SCS and input quality).

Implications:

The results provide preliminary evidence and suggestions about how to use and further develop our questionnaire across plurilingual populations, considering the heterogeneity in language exposure of plurilingual.