Testing the Usability of an Arabic Version of TOPL-2 in Measuring Pragmatic Language Impairment in Children and Adolescents with Developmental Dysphasia

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to assess the usability of an Arabic version of TOPL-2 in identifying individuals with PLIs and distinguishing them from those without PLIs. The method used in this research was that the Arabic TOPL-2 test was administered to twenty-eight individuals (F: 15-M: 13) rigorously diagnosed with DLD (n: 14), SLI (n: 8), HI (n: 2), LD (n: 2) MR (n: 1) and ADHD (n: 1) in the age-range of 6-16 years. For comparison, another twenty-eight participants (F: 14- M: 14) with typical language development in the age-range of 6-16 years also took the same test. The results indicate that, while the Arabic TOPL-2 is minimally reliable and satisfactorily valid, the internal consistency of the Arabic TOPL-2 is acceptable and its construct validity is generally moderate. It was concluded that the Arabic TOPL-2 is roughly usable and can distinguish between pragmatically impaired and unimpaired individuals. A small number of the items need to be modified for use with Arab participants.