The Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language - Revised: an Australian study

Abstract

This study examined the performance of a group of Australian children on the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language - Revised (TACL-R: Carrow-Woolfolk, 1985). The scores of the Australian children were compared with those of the American normative sample. The Australian children's error responses were also examined, and distractor effectiveness evaluated. Overall, the findings suggest that Australian children may achieve higher scores on some sections of the TA CLR than would be predicted from the normative data. On other sections, scores may not be significantly different. The evaluation of distractor effectiveness, however, revealed numerous items with one ineffective distractor, calling into question the validity of the test for use with this group of Australian children. Issues in testing, and the changing nature of validity, are also discussed, highlighting the need to consider whether formal, norm-referenced tests, such as the TACL-R, are appropriate for communication assessment.