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Zhao W, Li Q, Zhang X, Song X, Zhu S, Shou X, Meng F, Xu X, Zhang R, Kendrick KM. Language Skill Differences Further Distinguish Social Sub-types in Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:143-154. [PMID: 36282403 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05759-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated heterogeneity in language skills of children with autism and their relationship with different autistic social subtypes. Data from 90 autistic and 30 typically developing children were analyzed. Results showed that autistic social subtypes varied in language skill problems (aloof > passive > active-but-odd). There was a negative association between aloof dimension scores and language performance but positive for the active-but-odd dimension and no association in the passive one. Moreover, aloof dimension score was the main contributor to language performance. A receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested language vocabulary as an additional component in differentiating autistic social subtypes. These findings demonstrate that variations in language skills in autistic children provide additional information for discriminating their social subtype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihua Zhao
- MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731, Chengdu, China
| | - Qin Li
- Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 611137, Chengdu, China
| | - Xiaolu Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731, Chengdu, China
| | - Xinwei Song
- MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731, Chengdu, China
| | - Siyu Zhu
- MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731, Chengdu, China
| | - Xiaojing Shou
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education of China, National Committee of Health and Family Planning of China, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
| | - Fanchao Meng
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education of China, National Committee of Health and Family Planning of China, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
| | - Xinjie Xu
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education of China, National Committee of Health and Family Planning of China, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
| | - Rong Zhang
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education of China, National Committee of Health and Family Planning of China, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China.
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731, Chengdu, China.
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Alzahrani A. LexArabic: A receptive vocabulary size test to estimate Arabic proficiency. Behav Res Methods 2023:10.3758/s13428-023-02286-z. [PMID: 37964176 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02286-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Arabic is understudied in second-language research (L2) and lacks rapid and adequate tools for measuring proficiency. Drawing inspiration from LexTALE and its extensions, this study created and validated a quick receptive vocabulary size test to estimate L2 Arabic proficiency. In Experiment 1, the initial version of LexArabic was designed and evaluated with 192 L1 and L2 speakers. Item analysis using point-biserial correlations and item response theory (IRT) was conducted to refine the test, resulting in a final version with 90 items (60 words, 30 nonwords). Experiment 2 assessed LexArabic reliability, validity, and accuracy using a new group of 260 L1 and L2 speakers. The validity of LexArabic was evaluated through objective tasks (a general Arabic proficiency test, L1 to L2 translation task, L2 to L1 translation task) as well as subjective tasks (self-rated proficiency). Results showed that LexArabic demonstrated good reliability (α > 90), validity (correlation with two objective tasks and one subjective task), as well as accuracy (AUC value = .88). The introduction of LexArabic has the potential to facilitate experimental research on both L1 and L2 Arabic speakers and contributes to the development of standardized L2 proficiency assessment across languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alaa Alzahrani
- Department of English, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Lee ST, van Heuven WJB, Price JM, Leong CXR. LexMAL: A quick and reliable lexical test for Malay speakers. Behav Res Methods 2023:10.3758/s13428-023-02202-5. [PMID: 37658257 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02202-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Objective language proficiency measures have been found to provide better and more consistent estimates of bilinguals' language processing than self-rated proficiency (e.g., Tomoschuk et al., 2019; Wen & van Heuven, 2017a). However, objectively measuring language proficiency is often not possible because of a lack of quick and freely available language proficiency tests (Park et al., 2022). Therefore, quick valid vocabulary tests, such as LexTALE (Lemhöfer & Broersma, 2012) and its extensions (e.g., LexITA: Amenta et al., 2020; LEXTALE-FR: Brysbaert, 2013; LexPT: Zhou & Li, 2022) have been developed to reliably assess language proficiency of speakers of various languages. The present study introduces a Lexical Test for Malay Speakers (LexMAL), which estimates language proficiency for Malay first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers. An initial 180-item LexMAL prototype was evaluated using 60 Malay L1 and 60 L2 speakers in Experiment 1. Sixty words and 30 nonwords with the highest discriminative power that span across the full difficulty range were selected for the final LexMAL based on point-biserial correlations and an item response theory analysis. The validity of LexMAL was demonstrated through a reliable discrimination between L1 and L2 speakers, significant correlations between LexMAL scores and performance on other Malay language tasks (i.e., translation accuracy and cloze test scores), and LexMAL outperforming self-rated proficiency. A validation study (Experiment 2) with the 90-item final LexMAL tested with a different group of Malay L1 (N = 61) and L2 speakers (N = 61) replicated the findings of Experiment 1. LexMAL is freely available for researchers at www.lexmal.org .
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Affiliation(s)
- Soon Tat Lee
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia.
| | | | - Jessica M Price
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Christine Xiang Ru Leong
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
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