Acadience Reading Pre-K: PELI: Vocabulary-Oral Language (V-OL)
What is PELI V-OL?
The Vocabulary and Oral Language component of the PELI assesses children’s ability to name pictures and tell about them. Words for the Vocabulary-Oral Language subtest of the PELI were chosen that: (a) were relevant to the theme of the story and (b) could be pictured. From the pool of words that met the criteria for each book, a mix of easy, medium, and difficult words were selected. Easy words are words that are known by most preschool children; medium words are known by a majority of preschool children; and hard words are words known by less than half of preschoolers. Thus, by design, words are included that not all children may know. This mix of words is an important feature of the assessment and is necessary if we want to be able to distinguish children who have typical language skills from children who may have language delays and need support to develop vocabulary and language skills. For example, many preschool children, even those who are not familiar with a farm, know the words cow, sun, and owl from the book On the Farm. Preschool children with typical vocabulary skills may also be familiar with the words tractor, scarecrow, and barn. The hardest words are fence, wheelbarrow, windmill, and puddle. Preschool children who may not be familiar with a farm, but who have well developed background knowledge and vocabulary skills will likely know at least some of these words.
There are two parts to the Vocabulary-Oral Language subtest of the PELI. In Part I, Picture Naming, a child is asked to name pictures of common objects. In Part II, Tell About, the child is asked to describe common objects. Because the intent of the subtest is to elicit a child’s highest level of oral language skill, a model and series of assessor prompts are provided to encourage the child’s optimal performance.
Overview
| Early Literacy Skill | Vocabulary and Oral Language |
| Format | The assessor asks the child to name common items and tell everything they can about some items. |
| Score | 1 point for each picture named
Up to 5 points for telling about each word |
| Prompts | Picture Naming: What’s another name for it? or Can you think of something else to call this?
What is the whole thing called? or What is just this part called? Do you know what it is called in English? Tell About: What do you do with a ______? or What is a ______ for? What does a ______ do? or Tell me something else about a ______? |
| Discontinue | Discontinue Picture Naming if the child does not respond or says, “I don’t know” for the first three words. Discontinue having child tell about words if the child does not respond or says, “I don’t know” for the first three words. |
Scoring Rules and Tips
Part I. Picture Naming
The child receives 1 point for each picture that is named correctly.
- Circle the word if the child names the picture correctly.
- Draw a slash (/) through the word if the child names the picture incorrectly.
- Underline the word:
- if the child says a related word or concept, or
- says only part of the word (e.g., “house” for “dollhouse”), or
- names the picture in another language.
Part II. Tell About
Tell About is scored on a 0 to 5 point scale.
- Record the child’s response to each word verbatim in the space provided on the back of the score sheet.
- Select the child’s best utterance to score.
- Circle the number on the scoring sheet that corresponds to the quality of the child’s response.
For more information, please reference the Acadience Reading Pre-K: PELI Assessment Manual which is available to users who have purchased the assessment.
