TACL-3 Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language By: Dr Kersting

TACL-3 Written by Elizabeth Carrow-Woolfolk Developed in 1965 Last Revised in 1999

Purpose It provides an inventory of grammatical forms for observing a child’s auditory- comprehension and helps identify individuals having receptive language disorders. The TACL-3 is used for identifying a subjects language problems, planning intervention, monitoring progress, and parent communication. It is also an excellent tool for use in research studies

Description It measures the literal meaning of words, grammatical morphemes, and syntactic constructions, within a specific linguistic environment and in contrast to related grammatical structures. Test ages 3.0 to 9.11 Test contains 139 items grouped into three subtest

Description continued Subtest include Vocabulary Grammatical morphemes Elaborated Phrase Each item consist of three color drawings One picture illustrates the meaning of the word or phrase being tested The other two pictures illustrate a semantic or grammatical contrast to the stimulus Or in some cases, one picture illustrates a contrast to the stimulus and the other is a decoy

Standardization Norms based on 1102 normal developing children , ages 3.0 to 9.11, from 24 states. When standardizing this test the following were considered: Geographic area Age Gender Race Ethnicity Disability status Education of Parents

Reliability Validity and Reliability was based on the results from 991 normal developing children, 66 with speech and language disorders, and 33 with learning disabilities. Test-retest reliability and Inter-scorer reliability was used on TACL-3 and for all three subtest.

Validity The TACL-3 has Content-Description Validity Construct-Identification Validity

Administration The examiner reads the stimulus out loud. “Show me _____” The subject is directed to point to which picture best represents the meaning. No oral responses are required Stimulus is given only once, except for children 5 years and younger. FOR CHILDREN 5 AND UNDER: If child does not respond in 10 seconds, give the stimulus a second time.

Administration continued If subject does not correctly answer one of the three example items, then test should not be administered Test begins after one example is answered correctly Subtest should be administered in order Always begin with the first item of each subtest and test until ceiling is achieved or final item is administered Ceiling is achieved when child misses three items in succession

Administration continued Test should be administered in a non-distracting environment Quiet room, comfortable furniture, good lighting, ect. Give Breaks when needed The test is not timed, they can work at their own pace Test does not have to be administered in one setting Stop test if client tires or seems disinterested, continue administration later

Administration continued Be aware of fatigue, nervousness, attention, and the child’s attitude towards taking the test. Make a note of these on the score sheet, they could affect results Examiner should consistently praise and encourage the examinee Test administration takes 20-30 minutes

TEST DEMONSTRATION

Scoring Give a 1 for correct, 0 for incorrect Record the raw score for each subtest on the score sheet. Use appendix A to find the percentiles ranks and standard scores for each subtest. Use appendix C to convert scores into age equivalences. Use the sum of the standard scores from each subtest in appendix B to find the quotient score and overall percentile rank.

Scoring continued Over all age equivalence can be calculated using the following formula AE= (age in months) (TACL-3 quotient) 100

Writing Goals The client will increase the use of adjectives in daily conversation by 20%. The client will increase the use of pronouns in conversation by 30%. The client will begin to use different types of sentences (negative, interrogative, active and passive voice, etc.) 30% of the time

Why chose this test It is quick and easy to administer It is simple and easy to score Subject is not required to make verbal responses It allows the examiner to make diagnostic interpretations The pictures are universal, rather than cultural bound depictions of the items and events

THE END