Pre-Reading Assessment in Two Bilingual Contexts Examining Predictive Validity of the Urdu Phonological Tele-Assessment (U-PASS) Tool in Pakistan and Canada

Early assessment of reading abilities is important for ensuring long-term academic and career-related success. Pre-reading assessment tools can identify children at risk of future reading difficulties. However, most bilingual children do not have access to appropriate early reading assessments. This is due to the lack of language-appropriate assessment tools. The current longitudinal study examines the predictive validity of a linguistically- and culturally-responsive Urdu Phonological Tele-Assessment (U-PASS) tool, including subtests for phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) — commonly-assessed reading precursors. Specifically, we investigate whether kindergarten-level Urdu phonological awareness and RAN skills predict the future Grade 1 Urdu reading accuracy and fluency skills of Urdu-English bilinguals in two bilingual contexts: Pakistan (where Urdu is spoken as a national language; n = 104; Experiment 1) and Canada (where Urdu is spoken as a heritage language; n = 50; Experiment 2). Hierarchical linear regression analyses demonstrate predictive validity of the U-PASS tool across the two country contexts. Particularly, Urdu phonological awareness emerged as a consistent longitudinal predictor of Urdu word/non-word reading accuracy and fluency, while RAN was a reliable predictor of the reading fluency measures. The U-PASS tool provides access to linguistically- and culturally-responsive early pre-reading assessment, and enables researchers, speech-language pathologists, and educators to examine pre-reading skills in the heritage-language of Urdu-speaking children globally.