The Automated Test of Language AbilitieS – ATLAS

We have developed a short, but reliable, oral language assessment for children (The Automated Test of Language AbilitieS – ATLAS), which comprises 4 subtests (expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, sentence repetition and listening comprehension). The test has been developed as an App, running on a tablet, designed to be administered by teachers or teaching assistants. The App can be administered in under 10 minutes and scoring is automated via a secure website.  In this project we will collect data from a nationally representative sample of 1000 children aged 3 to 7 years (250 children in each of 4 year groups from Nursery to Year 2) to derive age norms for the test.  We will validate the App scores in a random sub-sample against well-standardized tests of language function (recalling sentences and expressive vocabulary subtests from CELF Preschool-2: Wiig, Secord, & Semel, 2004).

We will also collect data on an App based nonword repetition test based on The Grammar and Phonology Screening test (GAPS: Van der Lely, Gardner, McClelland, & Froud, 2007).