Notes: There are several age groups for the CASL. You can use this form with all of
the tests listed. Delete those tests, index scores and their descriptions you do not use.
In the grid, the receptive tests are in italics.
The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) was used to assess the
student’s specific language competencies in the areas of expressive vocabulary, auditory
comprehension, sentence formulation (syntax) and pragmatic language. The mean for the
standard scores is 100 with a standard deviation of 15. The total test range is 40 to 160.
All tests are subject to errors of measurement. To communicate this fluctuation in scores,
confidence intervals are provided along with the standard scores. The 90% confidence
interval is that range of scores in which there is a 90% probability that the student’s true
scores lie.
Tests
Core or
Supplemental
(C/S)
Standard
Score
90%
Confidence
Interval
Percentile
Antonyms
Synonyms
Sentence Completion
Idiomatic Language
Syntax Construction
Paragraph Comprehension
Grammatical Morphemes
Sentence Comprehension
Grammaticality Judgment
Non-literal Language
Meaning from Context
Pragmatic Judgment
Core Composite
Lexical/Semantic Index
Syntactic Index
Supralinguistic Index
Receptive Language Index
Expressive Language Index
Lexical/Semantic
Antonyms: This test measures word knowledge, retrieval, and oral expression of
opposites in a linguistically decontextualized environment. STUDENT obtained a
standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the
range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for
students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Synonyms: This test assesses knowledge and auditory comprehension of words in a
linguistically decontextualized environment without requiring word retrieval or
production. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that
his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task
did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Sentence Completion: This test measures word knowledge, retrieval, and oral expression
within a linguistic context. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90
percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s
abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Idiomatic Language: This test assesses knowledge, retrieval, and oral expression of
idioms. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that
his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task
did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Syntactic
Syntax Construction: This test measures oral expression of words, phrases, and sentences
using a variety of morphosyntactic rules. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X.
There is a 90 percent chance that her true abilities fall within the range of X. His abilities
on this task fall within the average range for students of his age. This is not area of
concern.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall
within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Paragraph Comprehension of Syntax: This test assesses auditory comprehension of
syntax in spoken narratives. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90
percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s
abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Grammatical Morphemes: This test measures metalinguistic knowledge and use of the
form and meaning of grammatical morphemes. STUDENT obtained a standard score of
X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X.
STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Sentence Comprehension of Syntax: This test assesses auditory recognition of whether
sentence pairs with different surface structures have the same or different meaning.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall
within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Grammaticality Judgment: This test measures Judgment of and ability to correct the
grammar of sentences. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent
chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on
this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Supralinguistic
Nonliteral Language: This test assesses the understanding of the meaning of spoken
messages independent of the literal interpretation of the surface structure. STUDENT
obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall
within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the
average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Meaning from Context: This test measures a student’s ability to derive the meaning of
words from their oral linguistic context. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall
within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Inference: This test measures the use of previously acquired world knowledge to derive
meaning from inferences in spoken language. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X.
There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X.
STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Ambiguous Sentences: This test assesses auditory comprehension of words, phrases, and
sentences that have more than one meaning. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X.
There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X.
STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Pragmatic
Pragmatic Judgment: This test measures the knowledge and use of pragmatic language
rules and judgment of their appropriate application. STUDENT obtained a standard
score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of
X to X. STUDENT’s abilities on this task did/not fall within the average for students of
this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Core Composite: The Core Composite is a global measure of oral language based on the
examinee’s performance on a set of tests that are representative of all the categories and
processes for a particular age band. These are the tests that theoretically and
developmentally best represent and most reliably measure the language skills developed
at that age. The Core Composite is reported as a standard score with a mean of 100 and
standard deviation of 15.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s language abilities, as measured by
the CASL, did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Index Scores
(Delete those tests which do not apply to the age of the examinee)
Lexical/Semantic: This index measures the knowledge and use of words. Tests used to
form this Index based on age are, Antonyms, Synonyms, and Sentence Completion.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s lexical abilities, as measured by the
CASL, did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
(Delete those tests which do not apply to the age of the examinee.)
Syntactic Index: This index measures the knowledge and use of grammar. Tests used to
form this Index are Syntax Construction, Grammatical Morphemes, and Grammaticality
Judgment. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that
his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s syntactic abilities, as
measured by the CASL, did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
(Delete those tests which do not apply to the age of the examinee.)
Supralinguistic Index: This index measures comprehension of complex language in
which meaning is not directly available from lexical or grammatical information. The
tests used to form this Index based for this age are, Nonliteral Language, Meaning from
Context, and Inference. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90
percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s
supralinguistic abilities, as measured by the CASL, did/not fall within the average for
students of this age.
(If the score is below average but is NOT considered a disorder, then add this sentence.)
His/her performance did not, however, emerge in a range that is considered to be an area
of concern at this time.
Receptive Index: This index measures oral expression and word retrieval. The tests used
to form this Index based for this age are, Antonyms, Syntax Construction, Grammatical
Morphenmes, and Grammticality Judgment.
STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true
abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s expressive abilities, as measured by
the CASL, did/not fall within the average for students of this age.
Receptive Index: This index measures the auditory comprehension of oral language. For
ages 7 to 10, the tests used to form this Index are Synonyms and Paragraph
Comprehension. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X. There is a 90 percent chance
that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X. STUDENT’s receptive language
abilities, as measured by the CASL, did/not fall within the average for students of this
age.
Expressive Index: This index measures oral expression and word retrieval. For ages 7 to
10, the tests used to form this Index are Antonyms, Syntax Construction, Grammatical
Morphemes, and Grammaticality Judgment. STUDENT obtained a standard score of X.
There is a 90 percent chance that his/her true abilities fall within the range of X to X.
STUDENT’s expressive abilities, as measured by the CASL, did/not fall within the
average for students of this age.