TRANSLATION AND ADAPTION OF NUMERACY SCREENER

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to translate, adapt, and validate Numeracy-Screener developed by (Nosworthy, 2013) in Urdu language. Numeracy Screener is a two-to-four-minute paper and pencil test for measuring the symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude processing abilities of 5 to 9-year-old children. It has two sections and each section has 56 items. The work done in the field of numerical cognition in recent years have accentuated the importance of measuring magnitude processing abilities (both symbolic and non-symbolic) of children. Literature suggests that these numerical abilities of early school years provide the foundational basis for the advanced mathematical skills learned in later school and college years. Furthermore, these abilities have been found to correlate with math achievement as well. However, majority of available evidence is drawn via computerized based tasks, which is not a feasible mostly for developing countries such as Pakistan. Henceforth, the Urdu translated version of Numeracy Screener was administered to the children (N=342) of local elementary schools of Wah Cantt, Pakistan to measure the magnitude processing abilities of these children. Reliability as well as validity was established for the Numeracy Screener. ANOVA for scores of both sections was performed and our analysis showed that age has a significant effect on both symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude processing abilities of the public elementary school children of Pakistan.