Development of a Mandarin Dictation Test Word List for Upper-grade Primary School Students based on the Rasch model

FENG Lin; WANG Menghuan; LIANG Dandan

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0839

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (8) : 890-896. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0839

Children's Learning Abilities and Family Nurturing Environment

Development of a Mandarin Dictation Test Word List for Upper-grade Primary School Students based on the Rasch model

FENG Lin, WANG Menghuan, LIANG Dandan

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Abstract

Objective To construct a mandarin dictation ability assessment tool for fifth- and sixth-grade students using the Rasch model, and to enhance the screening accuracy for children with developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia through psychometric optimization. Methods A preliminary item bank of 180 Chinese characters was constructed from the lower grade character database of the Ministry of Education's Chinese textbooks.In November 2023, the test was administrated to 595 students in Nantong, Jiangsu Province.Rasch model analysis was used for item selection and model optimization. Results A total of 163 well-fitting items were retained after the screening process.The final word list demonstrated excellent reliability (item reliability=0.975, person reliability=0.956) and high separation indices (item separation=6.32, person separation=4.66).The assumptions of unidimensionality (ratio of the first to second component eigenvalues=9.545; percentage of significant differences in Smith's t-test=5.88%) and local independence (MADaQ3=0.042) were robustly supported.The Wright Map indicated good alignment between item difficulty and person ability distribution.The test information function peaked in the low-ability range (θ≈-2, information value > 25), suggesting superior screening efficacy for children with dyslexia and dysgraphia.The word list showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.975) and high inter-rater reliability (ICC=0.998).ROC analysis indicated high discriminative performance for identifying children at risk of writing difficulties in this sample (AUC>0.99).Using a standard score of 37 as the cutoff, the sensitivity and specificity of this test were 100% and 98.8%, respectively. Conclusions The Mandarin Dictation Test Word List for Upper-grade Primary School Students demonstrates good performance in terms of reliability, validity, and screening sensitivity.It provides an objective framework for early identification of dyslexia and dysgraphia, and lays the foundation for computerized adaptive testing.

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upper-grade primary students / Rasch model / dictation ability / language screening

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FENG Lin, WANG Menghuan, LIANG Dandan. Development of a Mandarin Dictation Test Word List for Upper-grade Primary School Students based on the Rasch model[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2026, 34(8): 890-896 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0839

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