Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language

The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999a) is a norm-referenced, individually administered test designed to measure expressive, receptive, and retrieval skills in oral language. It contains 15 subtests that assess four categories of spoken language: lexical/ semantic, syntactic, supralinguistic, and pragmatic. Subtests are categorized as core, supplementary, or not required to be administered according to the age of the examinee. Thus, not all subtests are administered to each individual. Table 24.4 illustrates the ages at which subtests are administered and their correspondence to each of the four language categories. The CASL is intended to be administered to individuals between the ages of 3 and 21 years. Students provide verbal responses or respond to items by pointing; no student reading or writing is required. Testing time typically ranges from 15 to 60 minutes. The author of the CASL states four purposes for the test: (1) identification of language disorders, (2) diagnosis and intervention in spoken language, (3) monitoring of growth in language skills and knowledge, and (4) conducting of research on oral language skills.