Validity and sustainability of a phonological assessment tool for Bulgarian preschool children: cross-sectional study

Abstract

Phonology is a widely discussed topic that is studied in detail by linguists, psycholinguists, philologists, pedagogues, and last, but not least, by speech and language pathologists. The assessment methods do inform us about the phonological processes and phonological delays in details by comparing the results with those of a normative sample and offer an opportunity to gradate the severity of the disorder, which is individual and can vary significantly in individual children. The aim of the study is to present evidence of the validity and reliability of a phonological assessment tool developed to assess the phonological inventory of Bulgarian preschool children. For this purpose, an author’s test was developed and conducted among 382 Bulgarian children. Results The present study provided evidence of validity and reliability (internal consistency) for this phonological assessment tool, confirming the reliability of its three subtests. Conclusions The present findings provide strong evidence of the validity and reliability of this phonological assessment tool.