Assessment of Urdu phonological awareness of typically developing children aged 5-7 years in Pakistan

Abstract

Phonological awareness is a foundational skill for early literacy development, yet there is a lack of standardized assessment tools in Urdu for typically developing children. This study aims to assess a newly developed Urdu Phonological Awareness Tool designed for children aged 5 to 7 years.  The tool includes tasks targeting rhyming, oddity, blending, segmentation and manipulation considering culturally relevant vocabulary and images. A sample of 156 typically developing children from private and public schools in Lahore, Pakistan, was assessed. The results indicate that the tool is age-appropriate, reliable, and effectively identifies varying levels of phonological awareness in young learners. This tool has the potential to assist educators, speech-language pathologists, and researchers in promoting early reading skills through native language support. We have considered staged theory, auditory processing theory and emergent literacy theory. That states the development goes on in steps and It supports that literacy development begins long before formal schooling, and phonological awareness emerges through exposure to oral language, storytelling, and print-rich environments. Early assessments should focus on environmental exposure, such as the child’s familiarity with rhymes or alliteration