The Department of Health today launched the Hong Kong Test of Preschool Oral Language (Cantonese) to enable speech therapists to provide a more accurate diagnosis for local children with language development disorders.

Designed for use on Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking preschool children aged between 2 years, 6 months and 5 years, 11 months, the test is the first locally developed and comprehensive spoken language assessment instrument for Cantonese.

Local speech therapists have been using adapted overseas assessment tools for assessing Hong Kong’s Cantonese-speaking preschool children in the past decades.

The newly launched tool (TOPOL) caters for the needs of local Cantonese-speaking preschool children to enable evidence-based assessment of Hong Kong children’s language development and its disorders.

It also contributes to quality clinical services and provides a platform for future research.

Research for the project started in 2013, when the Department of Health joined scholars and renowned experts in research methodology from the University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic University and Education University to develop the new tool.

It is intended to be used by Cantonese-speaking individuals who have received professional qualifications as speech therapists from recognised university programmes and who possess a background in Cantonese linguistics.

It is applicable to professionals working in the public sector, as well as those from non-government organisations and the private sector.

TOPOL will be sold to eligible users at $5,440 per set.