Receptive Language Tests

Receptive language skills involve the comprehension of spoken language. Comprehension of language involves attention, listening, and processing the message to gain information. The key domains of receptive language include attention, receptive vocabulary, following directions, and understanding questions. To assess receptive language skills, clinicians (e.g., speech and language pathologists, neuropsychologists, school psychologists) typically rely on standardized tests. Standardized tests are assessment tools that are administered and scored in a consistent way, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of an individual. In this entry, some of the most commonly used tests of receptive language are highlighted.