Question
Besides the authentic assesssment, what are other ways(standardized or not) to do a pragmatic assessment when doing a complete language evaluation for elementary age students?
Answer
I certainly understand the need to try to find a time-effective way to assess children with pragmatic difficulty -- and also the value of a test score for placement. However, I really have a hard time talking about tests with these children because the very nature of pragmatic skills/problems is so intimately tired to context (place, participates, activity, topic, etc.). It seems to me that the problem is that a test gives only a very small specific sample of the child's behavior in only one context (individual testing), which then leads right back to working only on specific skills. Isn't that the problem that generated the first question -- that addressing specific identified pragmatic goals in therapy did not lead to effective interaction by the child?. SO!! I am going to have to hold on to my plea for authentic assessment.
Having said this, lists of tests can be found in the references that I provided. Below is one of the references that includes a list of tests -- and also two tests that can be found in the list.
Bernstein, D. K., Tiegerman-Farber, E., (2002). Language and communication disorders in children. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Wiig & Secord (1989), Test of Language Competence -- Expanded Edition, Psychological Corporation.
Phelps-Terasaki & Phelps-Gunn (1992), Test of Pragmatic language (TOPL), Pro-Ed
