title: Use of developmental language scales in Chinese children.
abstract: The Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS) and Symbolic Play Test (SPT) have been useful language tests for assessing the language age of children. Both tests have been validated in English-speaking children. However, there have been no studies conducted for Chinese children, whether Mandarin (Northerners) or Cantonese (Southerners) is used as the main dialect. As the Chinese population is the largest ethnic group in the world, and Chinese emigration occurred to nearly all parts of the world, it is essential to test whether these language tools can be applied for this ethnic group. The objective of this research was to study whether RDLS and SPT are useful in assessing the language age of Chinese children. Both RDLS (Chinese version) and SPT are conducted for 116 Chinese (Cantonese-speaking) children, aged 13-59 months, in Hong Kong. There is a significant positive correlation of the language age using RDLS and SPT with the chronological age of Chinese children. Both RDLS and SPT can be adopted in determining the language/mental age of Chinese (Cantonese-speaking) children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y L E
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Sy
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: L S J
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Au Yeung
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: C K J
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Siu
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*