The
present study assessed LENA’s suitability as a tool for monitoring future
language interventions by evaluating its reliability, construct validity, and
criterion validity in infants learning Hebrew and Arabic, across low and high
levels of maternal education. Participants were 32 infants aged 3 to 11
months (16 in each language) and their mothers, whose socioeconomic status
(SES) was determined based on their years of education (H-high or L-low
ME-maternal education). The results showed (1) good reliability for the
LENA’s automatic count on adult word count (AWC), conversational turns (CTC),
and infant vocalizations (CVC), based on the positive associations and fair
to excellent agreement between the manual and automatic counts; (2) good
construct validity based on significantly higher counts for HME vs. LME and
positive associations between LENA’s automatic vocal assessment (AVA) and
developmental questionnaire (DA) and age; and (3) good concurrent criterion
validity based on the positive associations between the LENA counts for CTC,
CVC, AVA, and DA and the scores on the preverbal parent questionnaire
(PRISE). The present study supports the use of LENA in early intervention
programs for infants whose families speak Hebrew or Arabic. The LENA could be
used to monitor the efficacy of these programs as well as to provide feedback
to parents on the amount of language experience their infants are getting and
their progress in vocal production. The results also indicate a potential
utility of LENA in assessing linguistic environments and interactions in
Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking infants with developmental disorders, such as
hearing impairment and cerebral palsy.
