Validity and reliability analyses for the development of Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology-2

Abstract

Objectives: This study is to investigate the validity and the reliability of Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology-2 (U-TAP2). U-TAP2 has been developed to assess 2- to 7-year-old children's phonological ability. U-TAP2 consists of two levels: word and sentence. Methods: Six hundred and sixteen children participated in this study. For content validity, a 5-score-scale was used for each item and speech-language pathologists served as assessors. The correlations among measured variables-U-TAP percentage of correct consonants (PCC), PCC, phonological mean length of utterance (PMLU), proportion of whole-word proximity (PWP), proportion of whole-word correctness (PWC)-were analyzed for construct validity. Results: The results were as follows. For content validity, the mean scores of word and sentence levels were 4.52 and 4.49, respectively. For concurrent validity, the correlation coefficient between the results of the U-TAP2 and the U-TAP was calculated. It also showed significant correlation. PCCs of word and sentence levels were significantly different by age. The internal consistency (Cronbach's α) was greater than .9 and the split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were also significantly high. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the U-TAP2 is a valid and reliable assessment tool for children's phonological ability and that it can provide useful information in analyzing the developmental characteristics of phonological abilities and in intervening the children who have phonological problems.