Remote Screening for Developmental Language Disorder in Bilingual Children: Preliminary Validation in Spanish-Italian Speaking Preschool Children

Due to the difficulties in differentiating bilingual children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) from bilingual children with temporary language difficulties that may be caused by heterogeneous language input, language assessments of bilingual children are challenging for clinicians. Research demonstrates that assessments of bilingual children should be in all the languages a bilingual child speaks. This can be arduous for clinicians, but computerised screening approaches provide potential solutions. MuLiMi is a new web-based platform designed to automatise screening procedures for bilingual children at risk of DLD. To validate this procedure and investigate its reliability, 36 Spanish-speaking children, aged 4-6 years old, living in Italy, were tested remotely using the Italian-Spanish MuLiMi DLD screening. Sixteen of the participants were previously diagnosed with DLD. L2 (second or societal language) as well as L1 (first or family language) language abilities in static (nonword repetition, grammaticality judgement, and verb comprehension) as well as dynamic tasks (dynamic novel word learning) were assessed. Speed and accuracy of the children's responses were automatically recorded (except nonword repetition). Significant associations emerged between the results obtained in the screening tasks when comparing them to parental questionnaires and standardised tests. An exploratory analysis of the diagnostic accuracy indicates that the single screening scores as well as the overall total score significantly contribute to DLD (risk) identification.

Automated summary

Assessing language abilities of bilingual children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is challenging for clinicians due to difficulties in differentiating them from bilingual children with temporary language difficulties. MuLiMi, a web-based platform, automates screening procedures for bilingual children at risk of DLD. A study with 36 Spanish-speaking children in Italy validated the procedure and showed significant associations between screening scores, parental questionnaires, and standardised tests in identifying DLD risk.