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provided in a manual to ensure that examiners follow the same testing procedures. Cueing hierarchy Examiners are required to give instructions following a four-step prompt hierarchy to elicit each target word: (a) open-ended question, (b) gap fill or content-related prompt, (c) binary choice (with the target word produced first), and (d) delayed imitation (e.g., “ Heart . Repeat, please” ( Tim. Con nhắc lại )). Children are encouraged to respond spontaneously by naming the picture at the first step as much as possible. The open-ended question used in step 1 for each target picture is “What’s this?” Some target pictures will be asked differently to elicit the targeted response. For example, with the target picture of elephant ( voi ), the examiner asks the child “ Đây là con …” (This is a [animacy word]…) so that the child can fill the target word after the animacy word produced by the examiner. If the examiner does not say the animacy/ inanimacy word, the child might say a compound word (animacy/inanimacy + target word, e.g., con voi ) instead of saying the target word only (e.g., voi ) because animacy/ inanimacy words commonly precede a noun in the Vietnamese language and are acquired early in young children (Pham & Kohnert, 2009; Tran, 2011). Before testing begins, it is useful to train the child to not include the classifier using common objects in the environment. If the child cannot label the picture, additional cues or content-related questions are provided to elicit the expected response. For example, a content- related question “What has a long trunk?” is asked to elicit a target word voi ( elephant ). If this step fails, the examiner will give a binary choice by presenting the target word first to participant, for example, “voi hay chân” ( elephant or leg ). If the participant does not respond to the binary choice, the examiner will provide the target word for imitation. A list of prompts and cues for each target word was also created to support the testing protocol. Scoring, transcription, recording and analysis A score form was created which includes columns for the word in orthography; the adult target in International Phonetic Alphabet for Standard Vietnamese, Northern, Central and Southern dialects; the child’s production; and columns for scoring each phonological pattern. Children are assessed individually. Examiners are required to transcribe children’s responses online by using the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. It is recommended that the transcriptions be based on the children’s first attempt if possible. If children’s first productions are not clear, then they are asked to repeat the words. The score form also requires examiners to mark the prompt or cueing level used for each response. It is recommended that the children’s responses be audio-recorded and/or video-recorded with the permission of children’s caregivers and the school. A microphone should be placed close to the children’s mouths (within 15 cm) and the video camera should be set up to record the children’s faces. The recordings can be used to check reliability between examiners, and to record change in the children’s speech over time. Video recordings can be used to check the children’s productions of consonants and vowels that can be seen on the recording (e.g., bilabials). The VSA score form provides a relational analysis (including percentages of consonants, semivowels, vowels and tones that are produced correctly) and an analysis of phonological processes/ patterns. Guidance in terms

of scoring, transcription, recordings and analysis will be included in the manual to instruct for examiners in both research and clinical use. Stage 2. Operationalisation of the Vietnamese Speech Assessment Operationalisation is the evaluation and validation process of an assessment to ensure its validity and reliability (Frytak, 2000). The VSA is currently undergoing operationalisation. Eventually the VSA will contain consistent assessment materials, administration and scoring protocols. Once normative data have been collected and analysed, they will be added to the manual. Eventually the manual will also include information about validity (content, construct, predictive, concurrent) and reliability (internal consistency, test–retest reliability, intra- and inter-rater reliability). To date, the VSA authors have considered the content validity for the VSA. Content validity refers to “the degree to which the items in the measure cover the domain of interest” (Frytak, 2000, p. 22). Content validity of the VSA was conducted first by a systematic examination of relevant literature and previously designed speech sampling tools to specify the initial test content. Second, professional judgement was used to define the test areas and to evaluate the relevance and representativeness of the test items with the target construct. The VSA was piloted by the design team on five adults and one child who were bilingual Vietnamese–English speakers to examine the relevance of the word list and scoresheet and to estimate length of the time required to complete the test. Adults completed the task in approximately 8–10 minutes, the child in about 20 minutes. After the initial pilot testing, some changes were made with to stimulus items (e.g., changing images for the word ‘ pin ’ from torch to battery) and prompts (e.g., changing the cues for the word ‘ tết ’ [Tet holiday]). Other psychometic properties (including internal consistency, test–retest reliability, inter- and intrarater reliability, criterion validity, construct validity, item analysis, sensitivity and specificity, standardisation) will be established in further steps to operationalise the VSA. Conclusion The development of a speech sampling tool requires two stages: conceptualisation and operationalisation. The conceptualisation of the VSA has been completed and work on the operationalisation is continuing. This paper provides an example of how to begin to undertake test development in a majority-world country. References Cameron, N., & Watt, C. (2006). Vietnamese articulation test (VAT: Version I-II-III-IV) . Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia: Author. Cao, X. H. (2006). Tiếng Việt mấy vấn đề ngữ âm-ngữ pháp-ngữ nghĩa [Vietnamese: Some issues in phonology- syntax-semantics]. Thành ph ố H ồ Chí Minh, Vi ệ t Nam: Khoa h ọ c x ã h ộ i. Cheng, L. L. (1991). Assessing Asian language performance . Oceanside, CA: Academic Communication Associates. The Children’s Hospital No.1. (2013). Bộ Kiểm Tra Từ Đơn Bằng Hình Ảnh [One–Picture Word List]. Thành ph ố H ồ Chí Minh, Vi ệ t Nam: Author. Đoàn, T. T. (2003). Ngữ âm tiếng Việt [Vietnamese phonetics]. Hà N ộ i, Vi ệ t Nam: Đ ạ i h ọ c Qu ố c gia Hà N ộ i.

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JCPSLP Volume 18, Number 3 2016

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