Short expressive language evaluation by French teachers during children's fourth year (SELEFT4)

Introduction. - In France, most children aged 3 to 4 years old attend preschool but tools to measure their language are missing. Objective. - Our aim was to built a tool for teachers to evaluate children's expressive language during the fourth year of life: the SELEFT4. Method. - It comprises a total of 65 items presented in four sections: vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics and intelligibility. Data were obtained from 303 children during the fourth year. Results. - Results showed that at this age, expressive language intelligibility plays a major role. We provided also norms by trimester of age. Conclusion. - Results are discussed in relation to other studies and tools assessing language development at this age. SELEFT4 appears to be a simple and reliable tool for teachers. (c) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.