Sadaf Afreen, Ayesha Kamal Butt, Arshad Nawaz Malik.
Development of an Action Picture Information Test (APIT).
J Riphah Coll Rehab Sci Jan ;02(02):33-7.

Background: The present study aims to develop a tool for assessing Urdu language, information based skills among 3 to 6 years children using action pictures. It highlights the need for norm based standardized assessments that are both culturally and linguistically appropriate. Internationally, speech and language pathologists typically include standardized tests as a part of their ongoing assessment which then forms the basis for therapeutic input as well. These standardized assessment instruments that are available to clinicians cannot always be directly translated due to their lack of appropriateness for children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This implies that test norms derived in this manner are appropriate for use only with demographic groups that were included in the normative samples from the same culture and language. There are no such tests available in Pakistan, designed for the Urdu speaking population; therefore, a need arose to develop such an assessment. The purpose of the study: The aim of the study was to establish Urdu norms for the assessment of information provided by children 3 to 6 years using action pictures, and to develop a tool for assessing Urdu language, information based skills among 3 to 6 years. Methodology: Ten culturally appropriate questions and pictures were selected and administered on 200 children between 3-6 years from government and private schools through purposive sampling. The sample included equal number of participants from each gender. Results: The results indicate that there were significant differences among all the three demographic factors including age, gender and school sectors and the study objectives were confirmed. The present study assessed the significant relationship between understanding and information providing in Urdu language using culturally and linguistically appropriate action pictures and questions. Conclusion and recommendations: It is concluded that the current study successfully developed a norm based standardized assessment for Pakistani children 3 to 6 years which is culturally and linguistically appropriate.

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