Description of the Expressive Vocabulary Test

The Expressive Vocabulary test is a measure of the child’s ability to formulate thoughts that
are expressed using the appropriate word or combination of words. The child is given a
spoken word and is required to provide a meaning or definition of the word. It is suitable for
primary school aged children. The test is administered individually and takes approximately
20 minutes to complete. This document contains instructions for administration and scoring
as well as the record form. This test will need to be administered and scored by someone
fluent in Hindi or Urdu.

Expressive Vocabulary Test Record Form

Child’s Name: _______________________________

Day Month Year

Date of Testing
Date of Birth
Age

Materials: Record form.

Instructions to be read aloud to the child: “I am going to say some Hindi/Urdu (say
relevant language to the child) words. Tell me what each word means in Hindi/Urdu (say
relevant language to the child) and do not give me your answer in English. For example if I
say the word kurta, you could say pehen’ne ki cheez ya jo hum pehen’nte hai. Are you
ready?”
Note to examiner: To get the child comfortable with responding in Hindi or Urdu before
beginning the task have a brief chat with them in Hindi or Urdu. Provide queries as often as
necessary for generalized responses or hand gestures, but do not query responses that are
clearly incorrect. Discourage the child as much as possible from providing their responses in
English. When administering the test, make sure that the child see and hears each item.
Record your responses verbatim in the space provided for scoring

Number Item Response Score

(circle)

1 aankh 0 1 2

2 haathi 0 1 2
3 aloo 0 1 2

4 bhai 0 1 2

5 naak 0 1 2

6 phal 0 1 2

7 barish 0 1 2

8 kitaab 0 1 2

9 bukh 0 1 2

10 jawab 0 1 2

11 mirch 0 1 2

12 khaandaan 0 1 2

13 khiladi 0 1 2

14 dushman 0 1 2
15 kagaz 0 1 2

16 heera 0 1 2

17 sipahi 0 1 2

18 pardesi 0 1 2

19 jurm 0 1 2

Percentage Correct: (total correct ÷ 38) X 100 = Total:

______
 Expressive Vocabulary Test Answers and Scoring Criteria

Scoring
2 – if participant responds accurately in Hindi/Urdu (refer table below for acceptable
responses)
1 – if participant responds accurately in mixed code (i.e. uses both Hindi/Urdu and English)
0 – if participant responds inaccurately

Number Item Response

1 aankh jisse hum dekhte hai – through which we see

sharir ka hissa – a part of the body

muh/chehre ka hissa – a part of the face

2 haathi bada jaanwar – big animal

bada jaanwar jo jungle me rehti hai – big animal that lives in

the jungle

bada jeev – big being

3 aloo Tarkari/sabzi – a vegetable

sabzi jo zameen ke neeche se ugta hai – vegetable that grows

under the ground

jo hum kathe hai – something we eat

4 bhai Jo saga hota hai – someone who is a blood relation

Jo humare maa ka beta hai - someone who is our mothers son

Humara rishta hai – our relative

Humare parivaar/khaandan ka hissa hai - is part of our family

5 naak Jisse hum soonghte hai – through which we smell

Jisse hum saans lete hai – through which we breathe

 Sharir ka hissa – a part of the body

Muh/chehre ka hissa – a part of the face

6 phal Jo hum khate hai - something we eat

Meetha khana – sweet food

Jo ped pe ugta hai – something that grows on trees

7 barish Paani jo aasmaan se girta/tapakta hai - water that pours/falls

from the sky

Paani jo baadal se girta/tapakta hai - water that pours/falls

from clouds

8 Kitaab Jo hum padte hai - something which we read

Jisme hum likhte hai – something we write in

9 bukh Jab khana chahiye – when we want food

Khana nahi khane pe jo hota hai - it happens when we don’t

eat any food

10 jawab Uttar dena – giving a reply

Prashn/sawaal ka uttar dena – replying to a question

11 mirch Theeka hai - is spicy

Theeka sabzi – spicy vegetable

12 khaandaan Maa,baap,bhai,behen hote hai - mother, father, brother ,sister

Log jo milkar ek ghar me rehte hai – people that live together

in a house

13 Khiladi jo khel khelta hai - someone who plays a sport/game

14 dushman Jo dost nahi hai – someone who is not a friend

 Jo humare bura chahte hai - someone who wishes bad upon

us

Jo hume pasand nahi hai - someone we don’t like

15 kagaz Jispe hum likh sakte hai - something we write on

16 heera Keemti pathar jo chamakta hai – expensive rock/stone that

shines

17 sipahi jo sena/fauj me hota hai - someone who is in the army

jo desh ke liye ladta hai – someone who fights for the country

jo desh ke raksha karte hai - someone who protects the

country

jo yudh me ladai karte hai – someone who fights wars

18 pardesi Doosre desh/mulk ke log – people from another country

Jo humare desh/mulk ke nahi hai – people who are not from

our country

19 jurm Kuch bura karna – doing something bad/wrong

Koi apraadh karna – committing an offence

Kanoon ko thodna – to break the law

 Descriptive Statistics

The table below provides summary statistics of the performance of 117 Hindi/Urdu-English
speaking children (mean age of 10 years 1 month; age range of 8 years - 11 years 10 months)
on the Expressive Vocabulary Test attending primary school in the United Kingdom.

This data should not be applied or used as normative/standardised scores. Rather, the data
provides a simple overview of how a sample of children aged 8-11 performed on the test; as
such this data should be interpreted cautiously.

Mean Standard Deviation Standard Error Minimum Maximum

Number Correct 14 7.13 .68 0 36
Percentage Correct 38 18.78 1.78 0 95