A short-form version of the Australian English Communicative Development Inventory

Purpose: The Australian English Communicative Development Inventory (OZI) is a 558-item parent report tool for assessing language development at 12–30 months. Here, we introduce the short form (OZI-SF), a 100-item, picture-supported, online instrument with substantially lower time and literacy demands. Method: In tool development (Study 1), 95 items were drawn from the OZI to match its item distribution by age of acquisition and semantic categories. Five items were added from four other semantic categories, plus 12 gestures and six games/routines. Simulations computed OZI-SF scores from existing long-form OZI norm data, and OZI and projected OZI-SF scores were correlated. In an independent norming sample (Study 2), parents (n = 230) completed the OZI-SF for their children aged 12–30 months. Child scores were analysed by age and sex. Result: OZI-SF and OZI scores correlate highly across age and language development levels. Vocabulary scores (receptive, expressive) correlate with age and the median for girls is higher until 24 months. By 24 months, 50% of the sample combine words “often”. The median time to OZI-SF completion was 12 minutes. Conclusion: Fitted percentiles permit working guidelines for typical (median) performance and lower cut-offs for children who may be behind on age-based expectations and/or at risk for a communication difficulty. The OZI-SF is a short-form of the OZI that has promise for research and clinical/educational use with Australian families.研究目的：澳大利亚英语交际发展量表（Australian English Communicative Development Inventory，OZI）是一款包含558个条目、由家长填写的评估工具，用于评估12至30个月龄儿童的语言发育水平。本研究推出其简版量表（OZI-SF）：该工具仅含100个条目，配有图片支持，为在线测评工具，大幅降低了作答时长与对家长识字水平的要求。 研究方法：在工具开发阶段（研究1），研究人员从OZI中选取95个条目，依据条目习得年龄与语义类别匹配原量表的条目分布；此外从4个其他语义类别中补充5个条目，另加入12项手势与6项游戏/日常互动内容。研究基于现有OZI长版量表的常模数据，通过模拟计算得出OZI-SF得分，并对OZI得分与预估的OZI-SF得分进行相关性分析。在独立常模样本阶段（研究2），共230名家长为其12至30个月龄的子女完成OZI-SF测评，研究人员按儿童年龄与性别对得分进行分析。 研究结果：OZI-SF与OZI得分在各年龄段及语言发育水平下均呈高度相关。词汇得分（接受性、表达性）与年龄呈显著相关，且24月龄前女童的词汇得分中位数均高于男童。至24月龄时，样本中有50%的儿童"经常"组合使用单词；OZI-SF的完成时长中位数为12分钟。 研究结论：适配的百分位数可提供典型（中位数）表现的参考指南，同时为语言发育滞后于年龄预期、或存在沟通障碍风险的儿童设置更低的截断临界值。OZI-SF作为OZI的简版量表，有望应用于澳大利亚家庭的相关研究、临床与教育场景。