Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB)

A practical measure for identifying pupils with significant phonological difficulties.

Developed by a group of expert researchers and psychologists, led by University College London, the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB) is designed to assess phonological processing in individual children. It is a practical measure that identifies children who have significant phonological difficulties and need special help in processing sounds in spoken language.

It is appropriate for use with bilingual children or children with English as an Additional Language and also includes data on special studies completed for children with specific learning difficulties (dyslexia).

• The Alliteration Test – assesses a child’s ability to isolate the initial sounds in single syllable words.
• The Naming Speed Tests – assesses a child’s speed of phonological production. These tests include the Picture Naming Test and the Digit Naming Test.
• The Rhyme Test – assesses a child’s ability to identify the rhyme in single syllable words.
• The Spoonerisms Test – assesses whether a child can segment single syllable words and then synthesize the segments to provide new words or word combinations.
• The Fluency Tests – assesses a child’s retrieval of phonological information from long-term memory.
• The Non-Word Reading Test – assesses a child’s ability to decode letter strings.

Due to the diagnostic nature of the results provided, PhAB can also be used to inform further teaching and intervention programmes to help with the child’s specific phonological difficulties.

Why use PhAB?

• Provides evidence and support towards Access Arrangements for children requiring extra time in exams
• Considers implications for further teaching and intervention programmes and includes case studies to help aid interpretation of scores
• Standardised on over 600 children with high levels of internal consistency and reliability
• It is suitable for use with pupils who have English as an Additional Language (EAL)
• Guides discussions about literacy development approaches to a child’s individual learning plan, enabling professionals to prevent potential problems and remedy existing ones