Dyslexia Assessment in Amharic

Abstract

The Dyslexia Assessment in Amharic (DAA), developed by Mekonnen in 2023, is a comprehensive ten-test battery designed specifically for the clinical and academic assessment of reading difficulties in Amharic-speaking children. The development process involved a rigorous review of established assessment instruments used across both alphabetic and non-alphabetic languages. Test items were carefully sourced from the vocabulary of a Grade 3 Amharic textbook, ensuring content validity through expert item analysis.

The battery encompasses ten distinct subtests, including Letter Naming, Word Reading, Pseudoword Reading, and measures of Phonological awareness-elision and Verbal short-term memory-digit span. Validation was conducted using a sample of Grade 3 students from public schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Statistical analysis, including Factor Analysis, supported a robust four-factor structure underlying the battery. The measure demonstrated strong psychometric properties, reporting high internal consistency (reliability coefficients > 0.70) and excellent test-retest reliability (ranging from 0.894 to 1.00). The total administration time for the DAA typically ranges from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the student’s ability.

Keywords

Amharic Language, Cognitive Assessment, Dyslexia, Orthographic Processing, Phonological-Naming and Decoding, Verbal Short-Term Memory, Reading Comprehension, Test Battery.

Authors

Mekonnen, Abebayehu Messele

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Dyslexia Assessment in Amharic (DAA) is to provide a standardized, linguistically appropriate tool for the identification and assessment of characteristics associated with dyslexia in children whose primary language is Amharic. This instrument addresses a critical need for valid psychological and educational assessment tools for speakers of this Semitic language, particularly focusing on Grade 3 students.

Construct

The core psychological construct measured by the DAA battery is Dyslexia, focusing specifically on the underlying cognitive and linguistic deficits commonly associated with specific learning disabilities related to reading. The battery is designed to tap into critical subcomponents of reading ability, organized into four empirically supported factors:

• Phonological-naming and decoding

• Comprehension (Reading and Listening)

• Verbal short-term memory

• Orthographic processing

Validity

Content Validity was established during the instrument development phase through expert item analysis, ensuring that the ten tests comprehensively cover the necessary linguistic and cognitive skills related to reading and language processing in Amharic. Items were derived directly from a Grade 3 Amharic textbook to ensure ecological relevance and appropriateness for the target age group.

Construct Validity was supported by comprehensive factor analyses (both Principal Component Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis). The resulting four-factor structure provided strong theoretical support for the instrument’s ability to measure distinct, yet related, dimensions of the dyslexia construct, confirming that the battery measures the intended underlying cognitive components.

Reliability

The DAA demonstrated high levels of reliability across multiple measures. For Internal Consistency, all ten individual subtests within the battery reported reliability coefficients greater than the acceptable threshold of 0.70, indicating strong homogeneity and consistency among items within each test.

Test-Retest Reliability was assessed using a two-week interval between administrations. The resulting reliability coefficients for each subscale and the total score ranged remarkably high, between 0.894 and 1.00. This indicates excellent stability of the measurement results over a short period, suggesting the scores are highly dependable.

Factor Analysis

Initial data analysis utilized Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation. This analysis identified a preliminary two-factor structure with eigenvalues exceeding 1, accounting for 73.368% of the total variance observed in the data. Factor 1 contributed 62.876%, and Factor 2 contributed 10.491%.

Further statistical investigation, recognizing the substantial contributions from the third (9.472%) and fourth (5.639%) factors, led to the execution of a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The CFA provided strong theoretical and empirical support for a more nuanced four-factor solution for the reading-related assessment battery. The four identified factors are: Phonological-naming and decoding; Comprehension; Verbal short-term memory; and Orthographic processing.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Instrument Type: Battery (10 tests)

Construct: Dyslexia

Format:

• Word and Pseudoword Reading tests: Participants are required to read aloud words presented on a list.

• Spelling test: Participants are required to carefully listen to and write down each word read to them.

• Passage reading test: Participants are required to read two passages orally.

• Reading comprehension test: The same two passages from the Passage reading test are used. Three to five comprehension questions are presented orally, and participants provide oral answers.

• Listening Comprehension test: Participants are required to listen to a taped recording of each listening comprehension passage before being orally asked to provide answers to comprehension questions orally.

• Phonological awareness test (Elision): Participants are required to first say a word and then produce the (pseudo)word obtained after a specific sound segment is deleted from the original word.

• Orthographic processing: Participants are instructed to say “yes” if they believe a prime is a word and “no” if they believe it is not a word (lexical decision task).

Language Available: Amharic

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Childhood (birth–12 yrs); School Age (6–12 yrs)

Population Details: Validation sample consisted of Grade 3 Students from public schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Test Methodology: Test Validity; Construct Validity; Content Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Test-Retest Reliability; Factor Analysis; Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

Amharic Language, Cognitive Assessment, Dyslexia, Foreign Language Translation, Learning Disorders, Listening Comprehension, Orthography, Phonological Awareness, Reading Comprehension, Short Term Memory, Test Battery.

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Authors

Author: Mekonnen, Abebayehu Messele

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation: Addis Ababa University, College of Humanities, Department of Linguistics

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Mekonnen, Abebayehu Messele: Addis Ababa University, College of Humanities, Department of Linguistics, Main Campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Mekonnen, A. M. (2023). Dyslexia assessment in Amharic. Educational Psychology in Practice, 39(2), 154–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2023.2176827

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Items of the Dyslexia Assessment in Amharic

The Dyslexia Assessment in Amharic battery comprises ten distinct tests:

1. Letter Naming

2. Word Reading

3. Pseudoword Reading

4. Spelling

5. Passage Reading

6. Reading Comprehension

7. Listening Comprehension

8. Phonological Awareness-Elision

9. Verbal Short-Term Memory-Digit Span

10. Orthographic Processing