title: Examining the quality of phonological representations in Anindilyakwa children in Australia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In attempting to evaluate an intervention programme designed to improve English literacy outcomes in children in a remote indigenous community in Australia, the need for valid and culturally appropriate measures of the factors likely to impact on literacy development became apparent. One factor considered likely to be of importance was the precision of the children's phonological representations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop a measure of phonological representations that was culturally relevant for Anindilyakwa children and to evaluate its reliability and concurrent validity against English measures that are known to be predictive of literacy outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Starting from the Quality of Phonological Representations test (QPR), the authors developed an Anindilyakwa Quality of Phonological Representations test (AQPR) and examined its reliability and concurrent validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The AQPR was found to have acceptable reliability and to correlate significantly with three well-established measures of phonological awareness and phonics in English.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The AQPR would thus seem an appropriate screening test for use by teachers to identify Anindilyakwa children in need of interventions to improve phonological representations before exposing them to an English literacy programme for which they may not yet be ready. The process involved in its development could be used by others working with indigenous students.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hogben
authors.affiliation: Language, Speech and Literacy Services, Jamberoo, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Roslyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neilson
authors.affiliation: Groote Eylandt Linguistics.
authors.forename: Rhoda Dugurruru
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Lalara
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology & Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D003210:Concept Formation; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D019303:Multilingualism; D010699:Phonation; D010700:Phonetics; D044382:Population Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement
keywords: culturally relevant assessment; phonological representations, literacy, indigenous students, early intervention