Building from an in-depth discussion of the theoretical issues surrounding language comprehension assessment, this volume provides 26 informal, nonstandardized procedures and activities designed to assess language comprehension in children from infancy to age 10. Assessment procedures are conveniently organized into three developmental stages: emerging language for children 8-24 months of age, developing language for children 24-60 months of age, and language for learning for children 5-10 years of age. Because these procedures can be tailored to the abilities, interests, and testing requirements of each child, they are ideal for children who are very young, who are functioning at low developmental levels, or who cannot respond typically to standardized tests.
During the testing process, professionals initiate enjoyable activities that motivate children to interact naturally in a warm, friendly environment. Once the child is unable to respond to the majority of the items probed, professionals end the activity and record their findings on the reproducible score sheets supplied in the manual. These assessment activities evaluate not only the literal aspects of the child's language comprehension but also the child's ability to respond to social context cues. As a result, professionals are able to obtain a more complete picture of the child's language abilities.
In addition to the procedures and accompanying score sheets, this manual includes a number of features that help make language comprehension assessment simple - step-by-step instructions, concise explanations, illustrative case studies, and a useful glossary. A refreshing alternative to standardized tests, The Clinical Assessment of Language Comprehension will help speech-language pathologists and other professionals pinpoint children's comprehension abilities and turn assessments into targeted intervention programs.

Rhea Paul, Ph.D., is Professor, of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and Director, Portland Language Development Project, Portland State University, Oregon.