Goh et al. (2026) – Reliability and Associations of English and Mandarin Vocabulary Measures in Infants and Toddlers Growing Up in a Multilingual Society

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This paper was authored by Dr Shaun Goh and his URECA FYP student Ms Vernessa Liew.
Dr Goh can be contacted here should you have any questions about the article.

Summary
This study evaluated the Developmental Vocabulary Checklist (DVC) using data from Singapore’s “BE POSITIVE” project to measure English and Mandarin development in 137 infants and toddlers (5–27 months).

Key findings include:

  • High Reliability: The DVC showed excellent internal consistency (alpha .91 to .99) across language categories, though a few culturally specific or ambiguous words exhibited poor fit.
  • Category Patterns: Children understood a significantly higher percentage of words for “Bodyparts” compared to clothing, vehicles, or food/drink, matching early developmental milestones.
  • Sensitivity & Floor Effects: Wright maps revealed a floor effect for infants under one year old, indicating a need for simpler, child-directed items to map low-proficiency ranges.
  • Language Exposure Asymmetry: Increased home exposure predicted higher Mandarin vocabulary, but only for older toddlers (1–2 years). Conversely, English exposure did not predict English vocabulary size.

This difference supports a threshold account. In English-dominant Singapore, children easily cross the exposure threshold required for English growth. However, because Mandarin input is less frequent, variation in home exposure remains highly influential to a child’s vocabulary size.

Reference
Goh, S. K. Y., Liew, V., Styles, S., Sun, H., Sim, L. W., Dorji, J., … & Rifkin-Graboi, A. (2026). Reliability and Associations of English and Mandarin Vocabulary Measures in Infants and Toddlers Growing Up in a Multilingual Society. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 07342829261440789.

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Read the article in full here:

Goh et al. 2026Download