Traditional language assessments using monolingual standardized tests often lead to misdiagnoses in bilingual children due to variations in language experiences. Given the strong link between iconic gestures and language abilities, an iconic gesture comprehension task could serve as an effective screening tool for bilingual children with developmental language disorder (biDLD), as it does not necessitate verbal output. Therefore, we explored the potential and validity of such a screening tool. We developed an iconic gesture comprehension task where children observe a gesture and select the corresponding image from four options. The task was completed by 70 monolingual children with typical development (moTD), 70 bilingual children with typical development (biTD), and 40 biDLD between 3 and 9 years old. Additionally, language tests were administered to gain insight into the relation between gesture performance and language abilities. Performance on the gesture task increased with age, and group comparisons revealed that moTD and biTD outperformed biDLD. Although the task was unaffected by language experience, diagnostic accuracy at the individual level was 68.18%. Additionally, gesture performance was associated with lexicosemantic abilities in biDLD, suggesting that the task appears most sensitive to children with significant semantic deficits. While the iconic gesture comprehension task differentiated between children with and without developmental language disorder at the group level, its diagnostic accuracy at the individual level remains limited. Further research is needed to assess whether the task, in a modified form, still has potential as a screening task and to clarify how gesture comprehension relates to language abilities. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.31211821.

Abstract Addressing the educational needs of bi/multilingual students in K‐12 classrooms, this study explores teachers' engagement with multilingualism in assessment practice. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with language and mathematics teachers in Ontario, Canada, the study generates empirical insight into teachers' development and use of multilingual assessment strategies to engage students' full linguistic repertoire, cultivate multilingual awareness, and enhance students' self‐efficacy and well‐being. The study contributes to the development of fair and equitable assessment tailored to the diverse sociolinguistic landscape of Canadian schools, advocating for a paradigm shift in how language and curriculum assessments are designed and implemented.

ABSTRACT Children from a low SES environment may exhibit reduced language performance as a function of family or environmental socioeconomic status (SES) and this can impact oral language assessment and further development, as well as learning trajectories in school. We aimed to establish whether children in a multicultural and low socio-economic environment would show this disadvantage on normed tasks for oral language development in early grades. An oral language screener (Phophlo), a verb production task, and a metalinguistic task were used to screen 48 children in schools from two highly multicultural French schools with varying levels of SES environments. Scores on the tasks were lower than expected, with failure rates between 15% and 65%, depending on the task. SES did not systematically impact results, and percentage of exposure to French was found to impact some task results significantly. Children in schools with lower SES may have oral language delays as compared to children in schools from middle SES districts. These delays can be identified using the Phophlo screener, verb production and meta-linguistic tasks. Recommendations are made for class-based interventions.

Background/Objectives: Cannabis use has a particularly high prevalence in individuals with psychotic disorders. Although cannabis use is generally associated with cognitive impairments in the general population, its impact on cognition in psychosis remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the association between cannabis use and cognitive performance in a cohort of individuals affected by psychotic disorders. Methods: A total of 105 inpatients with psychotic disorders (mean age: 40.3 years; 34 females) were recruited from the University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” in Tirana. Data collection included socio-demographic and clinical variables. Cognitive functioning was evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), while psychopathology was assessed with the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS), and the Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language, and Communication (TLC). Results: Cannabis users (CU) were more frequently male, younger, and exhibited an earlier onset of psychosis compared to non-users (No-CU). Importantly, CU demonstrated higher MoCA scores, with the most favorable outcomes observed among daily users. Conclusions: Contrary to the prevailing assumption that cannabis use exacerbates cognitive decline, our findings indicate an unexpected association between cannabis use and preserved cognitive functioning in psychosis. These results underscore the need to consider dosage, frequency, and cannabinoid composition (THC/CBD ratio) when interpreting cannabis-related cognitive outcomes in psychotic disorders.

This study aimed to construct and validate a mobile application to guide children and adolescents in oncological care in self-reported pain. This is a descriptive study, based on a systematic instructional design that was conducted from 2022 to 2023 on working in pediatric care at two hospitals in Brazil. The content was validated by healthcare professionals, using the content validity index and cutoff score of 0.80. Face validity was assessed by children and adolescents, and a 90% agreement rate was used. The application, named "CuidaDor Web App," comprises four sections: user identification, presence of pain through numerical and facial scales and a body map, history of records, and informative materials. In the content evaluation, the judges assessed seven items: Language, Content, Illustrations, Layout, Motivation, Relevance, and Usability Assessment. The overall content validation index was 0.95. A face validation involved 24 children and adolescents, achieving over 90% concordance rate. However, usability requires parents' assistance for children using the tool. The CuidaDor Web App was developed and validated by healthcare professionals, children, and the target audience. The app may contribute to the management of pain in children and adolescents with cancer during hospitalization and at home. Future studies are needed to evaluate the age group that benefits most from technology and the use of the application as a tool for nurses and healthcare professionals.

Background/Objectives: Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by gradual and progressive deterioration of speech and language abilities. Speech and language therapy is considered an important intervention to slow decline and support the recovery of linguistic functions in individuals with PPA. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an elaborated Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) approach in enhancing naming abilities and semantic networks in individuals with the logopenic and semantic variants of PPA. Methods: Fourteen participants were recruited, including seven individuals with logopenic PPA and seven with semantic PPA. All participants received an elaborated SFA intervention twice weekly for four weeks. The Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD), the Turkish Picture Naming Test (T-RAT), and the SAQOL-39 were conducted at the following three time points: prior to treatment (pre-test), immediately after treatment (post-test), and one month post-treatment (follow-up). Results: Significant improvements were observed in ADD, T-RAT, and SAQOL-39 scores in both logopenic and semantic PPA groups following treatment (p < 0.05). Although follow-up scores declined compared to posttest performance (p < 0.05), several follow-up scores remained higher than pretest levels. Between-group comparisons indicated no significant difference in ADD scores; however, logopenic PPA participants demonstrated higher T-RAT scores (p < 0.05), while semantic PPA participants showed higher SAQOL-39 scores, except at follow-up (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest that the elaborated SFA intervention is effective in improving naming skills, language functioning, and quality of life in both logopenic and semantic variants of PPA. Although treatment gains partially decreased after one month, many improvements were maintained above baseline, supporting the clinical value of SFA in managing language decline in PPA.

Introduction The growing population of bilingual children and lack of bilingual clinicians have created an increased need for reliable and accessible bilingual language assessment to accurately detect language delays and disorders globally. To address this growing need, this study evaluated the Mandarin-English Receptive Language Screener (MERLS), a web-based receptive language assessment designed for bilingual Mandarin-English (ME) speaking children. Methods Using a citizen science approach, bilingual ME speaking parents based in the United States served as the test administrators. This two-phase study compared bilingual ME speaking children’s performance and parent-child interactions across in-person ( n = 16) and telehealth ( n = 43) settings. Participants in both phases were typically developing children aged 3–10 years who used Mandarin and English for at least 20% of their daily communication. Results In Phase I (in-person), despite variability in parent behaviors during administration, parent-administered assessments demonstrated comparable test-retest reliability (Pearson correlation: r = 0.95, p &amp;lt; 0.01) and item-by-item agreement (82%) to researcher-administered assessments. These reliability metrics are comparable to those of established standardized child language assessments (e.g., PPVT-5 and the QUILS). In Phase II (telehealth), platform improvements (e.g., educational quizzes and videos on proper test administration) significantly reduced interfering parent behaviors (Mandarin items: W = 485 , p = 0.004; English items: W = 482 , p = 0.003) without affecting children’s test performance. Discussion These results support the feasibility of using a citizen science approach and a digital assessment platform MERLS for parent-administered language assessments. Such innovative assessment approach has great potentials to increase access to accurate and reliable language assessment services for bilingual ME speaking children in the United States. The findings offer clinical and technical insights for developing bilingual child language assessments across both in-person and telehealth settings.

The advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has ushered in a transformative wave within the field of language education. However, the applications of GenAI are primarily in language teaching and learning, with assessment receiving much less attention. Drawing on task characteristics identified from a corpus of authentic prior tests, this study investigated the capacity of GenAI tools to develop a short College English Test-Band 4 (CET-4) listening test and examined the degree to which its content, concurrent, and face validity corresponded to those of an authentic, human-generated counterpart. The findings indicated that the GenAI-created test aligned well with the task characteristics of the target test domain, supporting its content validity, whereas sufficient robust evidence to substantiate its concurrent or face validity was limited. Overall, GenAI has demonstrated potential in developing listening tests; however, further optimization is needed to enhance their validity. Implications for language teaching, learning and assessment are therefore discussed.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of children with language impairment abruptly shifted to online services, highlighting the need for digital resources among speech-language therapists. This study aimed to support this transition by developing and evaluating the usability of an online language assessment for Malay school-age children with developmental language disorder. A total of 36 Malay children aged 7–12 completed a language assessment consisting of nine language and cognitive tasks administered via CoughDrop ® on the Zoom video conferencing platform. The results revealed that children with developmental language disorder performed significantly lower than their typically developing peers, with substantial effect sizes observed across all measures. Feedback from seven speech-language therapists indicated that the online tool was user-friendly and well-integrated, although some technical challenges were encountered. This study demonstrates the potential of the newly developed online language assessment in identifying children with developmental language disorder while addressing the service delivery challenges faced by speech-language therapists during the pandemic, and it remains a valuable and relevant innovation in current clinical practice today.

Accurate identification of speech and language disorders in multilingual children can be challenging due to a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools. Many multilingual children are assessed with tools designed for monolingual children, resulting in misdiagnosis of speech and language disorders. This study aimed to use the first formal tool specifically designed for the Ghanaian context, the Bampoe Ghanaian English Speech and Language Assessment (B-GESLA), to develop speech and language profiles of children. The B-GESLA can be used by speech and language pathologists (SLPs) in Ghana to identify speech and language disorders in multilingual children by forming a vital component of a converging evidence approach to assessment. The speech and language skills of 100 typically developing Ghanaian English-speaking children aged 5-10 years selected from schools in Tema, Ghana, were assessed using the B-GESLA. Participants completed at least three of the seven B-GESLA subtests: Caregiver's Questionnaire (language profile and development questionnaire), Following Instructions and Concepts, Expressive Vocabulary, Grammatical Features, Narratives, Nonword/Sentence Repetition, and Speech. A converging evidence approach was used to integrate data related to children's language exposure and parental concern to identify typical speech and language development among multilingual Ghanaian English-speaking children. Children's scores on each subtest were sorted into three groups based on their level of exposure to Ghanaian English: (1) GhE as a primary language and exposed from birth (n = 31), (2) GhE as a primary language but not exposed from birth (n = 28), and (3) GhE not a primary language and not exposed from birth (n = 41). Children in groups 1 and 2 were noted to have higher scores across the receptive, expressive, grammar, and narrative subtests. For children in group 3, the "late" exposure and the fact that GhE is not their primary language seemed to have contributed to lower performance and high variability given the different experiences children may have had with GhE. Analysis took into account the numerous factors that impact upon multilingual children's communication development to assist SLPs in making an informed decision regarding the presence or absence of a communication disorder based on their scores, relative to age and level of language exposure. The B-GESLA is a simple, reliable, and child-friendly assessment tool designed to identify children with speech and language disorders. It offers Ghanaian SLPs a culturally and linguistically relevant assessment for school-age children in Ghana.

Background: Many young children in South Africa are enrolled in early learning programmes (ELPs) that use a different language of learning and teaching (LOLT) from their mother tongue. In which language should they be assessed? Aim: To investigate the effect of the language of testing on Early Learning Outcomes Measure 4&amp;5 (ELOM 4&amp;5) performance. Setting: Preschool Programmes. Methods: The nationally standardised ELOM 4&amp;5 was administered to isiXhosa-speaking children (39 boys and 46 girls) attending English LOLT programmes (mean age = 62.12 months; standard deviation [sd] = 4.36). The language of assessment order was counterbalanced (English first and isiXhosa second or vice versa). A mixed linear model with fixed and random effects was fitted with ELOM 4&amp;5 Total score at assessment time 2 in language 2 (English or isiXhosa) as the dependent variable. The model included the following predictors: ELOM 4&amp;5 Total score in the language assessed at time 1, days between assessments, sex, age in months and ratings of Task Orientation. Results: Children performed better in isiXhosa regardless of the language of administration order. Children assessed in English first performed better when tested in isiXhosa second. Conclusion: Early Learning Outcomes Measure 4&amp;5 test scores of English LOLT isiXhosa-speaking children in ELPs are likely to be more valid indicators of their ability when children are tested in their mother tongue language. Contribution: This first South African study to investigate the effects of language of test administration on ELOM 4&amp;5 performance in children attending English LOLT programmes indicates that isiXhosa speakers should be assessed in their mother tongue as required by the national home language assessment policy.

Children of migrants are often exposed to more than one language from an early age. The Avicenne ELAL© test has been created to better assess language skills, avoid misdiagnosing learning disabilities, and inform early interventions. Plurilingual children aged 3.5 to 6.5 take the test in their mother tongues, with an interpreter's assistance. The test comprises three scales: Comprehension, Expression, and Storytelling. The objectives of this study were to describe steps of the transcultural validation of the Avicenne ELAL© for the Soninke culture and language, both for children living in a monolingual environment in Mauritania and for migrant children living in a multilingual environment in France; to compare the performance of these two groups; and to explore its qualitative use in studying language pathways among bilingual and plurilingual children. A total of 71 children participated in this study in Mauritania (n = 25) and France (n = 46). The Avicenne ELAL©, a 30-minute plurilingual language assessment using objects, picture boards, and storytelling tasks, was administered in Soninke (and in French for children in France) to migrant children in France and to children in Mauritania, with standardized procedures to minimize distractions and ensure comfort. All sessions were recorded, de-identified, and supplemented with field notes and a logbook to capture contextual and qualitative elements of children's language use. The results of the two groups of children were analyzed and compared with quantitative and qualitative methods. Given the excellent results of the monolingual children, the ELAL in the Soninke language can be considered valid. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences between the children's scores in Mauritania and France, for both the total score and each separate scale (Comprehension, Expression, and Storytelling). The results also showed that the quality of the narrative skills (storytelling) was strongly correlated with the child's age. Comparing the language assessments collected in these two settings highlights the variations and cultural specificities that should be considered when studying the language skills of Soninke-speaking migrant children.

This community service program aims to improve the basic Indonesian communication skills of a BIPA learner from South Korea, Jeung Min Yeoung, who has been residing in Bali for nine months. The training was designed using a tourism-based learning approach that integrates language practice into situational contexts, such as visits to local destinations, interactions with the community, and simulations of everyday conversations. This approach provides the learner with more natural language exposure and experiences relevant to daily life in Bali. The program included an initial language assessment, the development of communicative materials, intensive mentoring, and a progress evaluation. The results of the activity indicate an increase in the learner’s confidence and fluency in using basic expressions for asking questions, introducing oneself, shopping, and engaging in social interactions. This program is expected to serve as a model for tourism-based BIPA learning to support the development of communicative competence among foreign learners.

Individuals with left-hemisphere damage (LHD), right-hemisphere damage (RHD), dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and healthy controls are characterized by overlapping clinical profiles affecting communication and social interaction. Language provides a rich, non-invasive window into neurological health, yet objective and scalable methods to automatically differentiate between conditions with are lacking. This method aims to develop comprehensive neurolinguistic measures of these conditions, develop a machine learning multiclass screening and language assessment model (NeuroScreen) and offer a large comparative database of measures for other studies to build upon. We combined one of the largest databases, comprising 291 linguistic biomarkers calculated from speech samples produced by 1,394 participants: 536 individuals with aphasia secondary to LHD, 193 individuals with dementia, 107 individuals with MCI, 38 individuals with RHD, 58 individuals with TBI, and 498 Healthy Controls. Employing natural language processing (NLP) via the Open Brain AI platform (http://openbrainai.com), we extracted multiple linguistic features from the speech samples, including readability, lexical richness, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. A Deep Neural Network architecture (DNN) classifies these conditions from linguistic features with high accuracy (up to 91%). A linear mixed-effects model approach was employed to determine the biomarkers of the neurological conditions, revealing distinct, quantitative neurolinguistic properties: LHD and TBI show widespread deficits in syntax and phonology; MCI is characterized by fine-grained simplification; patients with dementia present with specific lexico-semantic impairments; and RHD shows the most preserved profile. Ultimately, the outcomes provide an automatic detection and classification model of key neurological conditions affecting language, along with a novel set of validated neurological markers for facilitating differential diagnosis, remote monitoring, and personalized neurological care.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-34257-z.

A comprehensive framework for glioma surgery by the PIONEER Consortium and RANO resect group, part 1: intraoperative recommendations for mapping, monitoring, and decision making.

Development of an AI-assisted spoken language assessment system for Japanese language teaching

In Senior High School, Arabic language assessments mostly focus on memorizing grammar rules (tarkib) and recalling information in reading comprehension (Qira’ah). This assessment does not improve students’ abilities to analyze complex texts, evaluate arguments, or apply grammatical knowledge in new contexts. In Eleventh Grade, the Tasawwuq chapter of the Arabic textbook includes only 21% Higher-Order Thinking Skills questions, while 79% focus on Lower-Order Thinking Skills, such as remembering and understanding. This study aims to develop an Arabic assessment focused on tarkib and qiraah skills. The ADDIE model was used in five steps: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. This study used a qualitative approach to collect data, including documantation and questionnaires. Data analysis used descriptive statistics. In the analysis stage, LOTS questions were identified more than HOTS questions. For the student needs analysis, a questionnaire was distributed to 60 respondents, resulting in an average score of 4.19. The design stage involved developing an outline and question matrix, creating HOTS-based questions, formulating a scoring system, and establishing a rubric. During the development stage, questions were constructed in accordance with HOTS criteria, incorporating eight specific HOTS indicators. Implementation was conducted at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 4 Agam in the eleventh grade. Evaluation results demonstrated that the Arabic assessment for Tarkib and Qira’ah, based on Higher Order Thinking Skills, effectively enhanced the critical thinking skills of eleventh-grade students at the state madrasah aliyah, as indicated by a significance value (2-tailed) of less than 0.05.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of static versus dynamic stimuli on a verb production task in typically developing children aged 3 to 4 years. Specifically, the study examined differences in accuracy, response time, and error patterns across stimulus types and age groups. Methods: Thirty-two typically developing children (16 aged 3 years, 16 aged 4 years) participated in a verb production task consisting of 30 target verbs. Each child was presented with both photo-based static stimuli and video-based dynamic stimuli. Measures included naming accuracy, response latency, and error type categorization. Group differences by age and stimulus type, as well as potential interaction effects, were analyzed. Results: Children showed significantly higher accuracy in dynamic conditions than in static conditions. Four-year-olds outperformed three-year-olds overall, although no interaction effect was found between stimulus type and age. Response times were longer in the dynamic condition than in the static condition, regardless of age. Error analysis indicated reductions in “directional antonym” and “substitution” errors when the stimulus type shifted from static to dynamic. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that dynamic stimuli enhance accuracy and alter error patterns in verb production tasks, thereby providing more meaningful information than static stimuli. These findings offer empirical evidence for the development of language assessment and intervention tools based on dynamic stimuli that reflect the characteristics of verbs.

Research on EFL teachers' language assessment literacy (LAL) and its reflection in their assessment practices remains relatively limited. The current research aims to seek answers to the questions: (1) How did the five EFL teachers perceive their LAL knowledge, skills, and principles in their assessment context? (2) How were these components reflected in their assessment practices? A qualitative case study approach, involving five experienced EFL teachers in an Indonesian university, was employed. The data were collected through two in-depth semi-structured interviews and an analysis of participants’ assessment documents. The interviews and document analysis explored participants’ LAL and their assessment practices. The assessment documents were analyzed using conventional content analysis to investigate participants’ actual assessment practices. The findings indicated that the participants’ perceived LAL was not fully manifested in their assessment practices within this departmental context. The participants in this particular institutional context demonstrated the strongest understanding of LAL principles, followed by the skills and knowledge components, which revealed tensions among these components. Regarding assessment practices, the participants demonstrated competence in using various types of assessments aligned with institutional policies. However, discrepancies were identified between their LAL and actual practices, which may be influenced by external factors. Implications for the participants’ future professional development were discussed.

Ensuring measurement precision in diagnostic language assessment remains a critical challenge for educational institutions worldwide. This study employs Generalizability Theory (G-Theory) with a fully crossed person × item (p × i) design to evaluate the reliability of a reading comprehension subtest within a diagnostic English test used for university admission placement. Using R statistical software with the gtheory package, responses from 63 prospective university students across 15 multiple-choice reading items were analyzed through complementary G-study and D-study frameworks. The G-study decomposed total score variance into three components: persons (11.2%), items (7.0%), and residual error combining person-by-item interaction with random error (81.8%). This variance structure reveals significant psychometric limitations—the low person variance falls substantially short of the 40% benchmark for high-stakes decisions, while the dominant residual component indicates considerable measurement inconsistency. Reliability analysis yielded a generalizability coefficient (Eρ²) of 0.67 and dependability coefficient (Φ) of 0.65, both failing to meet conventional thresholds of 0.80 and 0.75 for consequential educational decisions. However, D-study simulations demonstrate a clear pathway for improvement: extending the test to 25–30 items would elevate both coefficients above acceptable standards while remaining feasible within institutional constraints. These findings indicate that the reading subtest, in its current 15-item form, does not meet minimal quality standards for high-stakes placement use and requires targeted revision. This study demonstrates that G-Theory provides an accessible yet rigorous framework for diagnostic test evaluation, offering evidence-based guidance for enhancing assessment quality even within resource-constrained institutional settings.