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○ Speech-Language
Pathology (0330)
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Test at a Glance
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Test Name Speech-Language Pathology

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Test Code 0330

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Time 2 hours
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Number of Questions 120

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Format Multiple-choice questions

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Approximate Approximate
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Content Categories Number of Percentage of

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Questions Examination
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I. Basic Human Communication Processes 20 17%

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II. Phonological and Language Disorders 23 19%

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III. Speech Disorders 15 13%

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IV. Neurogenic Disorders 23 19%

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V. Audiology/Hearing 6 5%
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VI. Clinical Management 23 19%

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VII. Professional Issues/

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Psychometrics/Research 10 8%
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About this test

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The Speech-Language Pathology test measures examinees’ academic preparation in and knowledge
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of the field. The examination is typically taken by examinees who are in or who have completed a
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master’s degree program. Recognized as the national examination in speech-language pathology, the
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test is one of several requirements for the Certificate of Clinical Competence issued by the American
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Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Some states use the examination as part of the
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licensure procedure. Examinees may obtain complete information about certification or licensure
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from the authority (ASHA, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or state or local) from
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which certification or licensure is sought.

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The 120 multiple-choice test questions focus on content related to the major practice areas
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of basic human communication processes, phonological and language disorders, speech disorders,
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neurogenic disorders, audiology/hearing, clinical management, and professional issues/psychometrics/

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research. Case studies assess the candidate’s knowledge of possible applications to clinical situations
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and issues. Research articles are included to assess the examinee’s ability to synthesize information
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and to apply it to specific examples. The distribution of the test questions across the areas of practice
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was based on a national survey, commissioned by ASHA, of speech-language pathologists in a variety

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of employment settings.
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The Speech-Language Pathology test evolves slowly in order to incorporate new developments in
this rapidly changing field while still maintaining comparability of scores from one year to the next.
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● Learning theory
Topics Covered – theoretical models of
II. Phonological and Language
Disorders: Assessment
The following list represents the learning related to language and Treatment
topics covered in editions of the test and the effective treatment ● Phonological disorders
that are currently being administered. of disorders – articulation disorders as
These topics are consistent with – models of behavior influenced by anomalous,
standards for clinical certification set management and oral-motor, dental, learning,
by the American Speech-Language- modification or behavioral factors
Hearing Association. – theories of cognitive – phonological process disorders
development ● Language disorders
I. Basic Human Communication ● Multicultural awareness – developmental, motor, and
● Language acquisition and – applications of theoretical linguistic processes
learning theory models of language in society – differentiation of normal,
– normal development of to a variety of linguistic and delayed, and disordered
speech and language cultural groups language development
– developmental norms in – cultural and socioeconomic – the nature of expressive and
phonology, syntax, semantics, factors that influence speech receptive language disorders
and pragmatics and language – treatment of language delays
– theoretical models of – communicative differences and language disorders
learning related to language between speakers of the same
and cognition language, including idiolectal III. Speech Disorders: Identification,
– behavior management and dialectal distinctions Assessment, Treatment,
and modification – differentiation between first and Prevention
– cognitive development language/dialect interference ● Fluency disorders
– developmental, motor, and and speech/language disorders – theories of fluency
linguistic processes – cultural differences in the use – neurological and
● Language science of nonverbal communication psychological factors
– the structure of language ● Speech science – assessment, treatment,
– the phonetic and – speech perception and prevention of
phonological representations – physiological phonetics fluency disorders
of speech sounds – acoustic phonetics ● Resonance disorders
– phonological theory as it – anatomy and physiology, as – resonance, as influenced by
relates to normal development related to the production, congenital anomalies,
– grammatical categories reception, and processing of neuralgic disorders, disease,
– morphology, syntax, speech, language, and hearing trauma, and behavioral factors
semantics, and pragmatics, – neural bases of speech – assessment, treatment,
as these fields relate to and hearing and prevention of
normal language processing resonance disorders
and production ● Voice disorders
– phonation, as influenced by
respiratory, laryngeal, and

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Speech-Language Pathology (0330)

airway problems resulting

● Auditory habilitation ● Efficacy
from malformations,
and rehabilitation – demonstration of results of
neuralgia, disease, trauma, and
– management of clients with clinical services in relation to
behavioral factors
hearing loss speech, language, and hearing
– alaryngeal speech
– issues of intervention relevant – determining and
– assessment, treatment, and
to the practice of speech- communicating information
prevention of voice disorders
language pathology about the outcomes of
assessment and treatment
IV. Neurogenic Disorders
VI. Clinical Management ● Instrumentation
● Neurological disorders
● Alternative/augmentative – instrumentation used in
– aphasia
communication speech and language analysis
– progressive disorders
– assessment and use of – the purpose, use, and
– motor speech disorders
alternative/augmentative applications of technological
– traumatic brain injury
communication devices developments with respect to
– cognitive communication
– determining candidacy assessment and treatment of
disorders
for alternative/ speech and language disorders
● Dysphagia
augmentative devices ● Speech-language assessment
– the process of swallowing
● Counseling – establishing clients’ past and
– causes and effects of
– communicating assessment present status
swallowing disorders
and treatment plans, progress, – formulating recommendations,
– assessment and treatment of
and results to clients and including impact of life
swallowing disorders
appropriate professionals conditions, type of treatment,
– interpersonal communication and service-delivery models
V. Audiology/Hearing
and counseling techniques – identifying individuals at risk
● Hearing science
● Documentation and monitoring for communication disorders
– principles of hearing
client progress – interviewing techniques and
– anatomy and physiology of
– collecting and using interpersonal skills
the hearing mechanism
information from – procedures for screening
– congenital and acquired
other agencies clients of all ages
hearing loss in children
– communicating to other – selection and administration
and adults
professionals concerning the of standardized evaluation
● Audiological assessment
client’s history procedures, such as
– hearing screening for clients
– data gathering and formal tests
of all ages
interpretation – selection and administration
– interpretation of audiograms
– determining termination of nonstandardized
and tympanograms
criteria based on prognosis, procedures, such as language
– referrals to appropriate
progress, and motivation samples and behavioral
professionals
– procedures for referral and observations
follow-up
– writing professional reports

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● Speech-language intervention VI. Professional Issues/ – determining the reliability of
– diagnostic intervention Psychometrics/Research assessment procedures
– selecting activities appropriate ● Ethical practices – models of research design
to the client’s age, – understanding standards for – test construction principles
sociocultural membership, professional conduct ● Standards and laws
and disorder – making referrals, obtaining – designing appropriate
– implementing remediation permissions, keeping and assessment and treatment
methods and strategies using client records through knowledge of
for disorders – ensuring client privacy governmental regulations and
● Syndromes and genetics – handling staffing issues in a professional standards
– basic principles of genetics professional and legally – federal laws and regulations
– syndromic and nonsyndromic prudent manner impacting delivery of services
inherited and developmental ● Research methodology/ – reporting requirements of
conditions psychometrics governmental agencies
– influence of syndromic and – criteria for selection of
nonsyndromic conditions on test materials
hearing, speech and language
development, production,
and processing

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○ Sample Test Questions Speech-Language Pathology (0330)

The sample questions that follow illustrate the kinds of questions 4. The clinician has targeted the phonological process of
in the test. They are not, however, representative of the entire “stopping on initial fricatives” for remediation and is
scope of the test in either content or difficulty. Answers with using the word “shoes” to establish the new behavior.
explanations follow the questions. The clinician now wishes to investigate whether the
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements speaker can generalize the newly learned pattern to
below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. untrained words. If it is assumed that generalization
Select the one that is best in each case. will occur on words whose phonetic characteristics
are most like the trained word “shoes,” which of the
1. Which of the following is the major physical or following words should be selected?
organic factor underlying impairment in the speech
(A) shouting
of persons with cleft palate?
(B) fished
(A) Congenital hearing loss from otitis media (C) ocean
(B) Broad irregular maxillary arch (D) shook
(C) Palatopharyngeal insufficiency (E) mission
(D) Maintenance of learned neuromuscular patterns
(E) Irregular vocal fold abduction 5. The Spanish-speaking parents of a nine-year-old
bilingual child report that their child communicates
2. A speech-language pathologist determines the mean in Spanish with complete utterances and has a good
length of utterance (MLU) of a language sample from vocabulary in comparison to other children in the
a three-year-old child. Two weeks later, the same neighborhood. Their concern is that the child
clinician reevaluates the same sample and again interrupts their conversations and has not learned
determines the MLU. The extent to which the two social rules that are important within the family and
scores are similar is most directly a function of the community. Testing confirms similar problems in
(A) validity of the scores English-speaking settings. The speech-language
(B) reliability of the scores pathologist would most likely recommend that
(C) skewness of the score distribution therapy focus on which of the following
(D) efficiency of administration language areas?
(E) speededness of the measure
(A) Syntax
(B) Morphology
3. A speech-language pathologist is providing (C) Semantics
services to adults with neurogenic disorders of (D) Pragmatics
communication. Of the following clients, (E) Semantic relations
which will likely have the most favorable
management prognosis? 6. Which of the following intervention approaches
(A) John, who has a closed head injury resulting in should the speech-language pathologist try first for a
a slight concussion four-year-old child with a moderate fluency disorder?
(B) Jim, who has a penetrating head injury (A) Helping the child learn to speak slowly
resulting in paralysis of the nervous system (B) Treating the child with biofeedback
(C) Mary, who has Alzheimer’s disease (C) Treating the child with delayed auditory feedback
(D) Juan, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (D) Counseling the family
(E) Helen, who has Huntington’s chorea (E) Referring the child for psychotherapy

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Sample Test Questions

7. A 60-year-old man has Parkinson's disease and is in 9. A speech-language pathologist is behaving ethically if
the early stage of dementia. It would be appropriate to he or she does which of the following?
address which of the following goals first in therapy? (A) Refuses to deliver professional services on the
(A) To improve articulation skills basis of a client’s sexual orientation.
(B) To educate the family or caregivers (B) Offers to provide speech or language services
(C) To decrease jargon solely by correspondence for an individual whose
(D) To decrease circumlocution handicapping condition prevents easy access to
(E) To improve motor skills the professional’s office.
(C) Diagnoses a speech disorder solely through
8. Pretherapy Current correspondence as long as the correspondence
Pitch 175 Hz 200 Hz is thorough and careful.
Phonation duration 10 sec. 15 sec. (D) Offers general information of an educational
nature by correspondence.
Perturbation 1.2 .68
(E) Indicates the specific duration of the
Average airflow during
therapeutic program.
connected speech 100 ml/sec. 150 ml/sec.
10. Which of the following statements best characterizes
An adult female has received 20 sessions of voice
the ethics of formulating prognoses for clients with
therapy for hoarseness related to vocal nodules, and
speech and language disorders?
the data above for pre- and post-evaluation measures
are compared. Which of the following is most strongly (A) No assessment is complete until a precise
indicated by the data? statement can be formulated regarding
the prognosis.
(A) The patient’s voice is improving. (B) Since offering a favorable prognosis is essentially
(B) The patient’s voice is deteriorating. equivalent to guaranteeing the results of a
(C) Perturbation is worse, but the other measures therapy program, it is unethical to make specific
are better. statements regarding prognosis.
(D) The patient’s voice is still abnormal. (C) The extreme complexity of speech and language
(E) The vocal nodules are gone. processes and behaviors makes it impossible to
formulate prognoses.
(D) After an assessment has been completed, it is
usually appropriate to make some general
statements about prognosis.
(E) A clinician’s ability to make prognostic
statements depends on the availability of
standardized tests to quantify the severity of a
speech and language disorder.

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○ Speech-Language Pathology (0330)

Answers
1. The best answer is C. Palatopharyngeal insufficiency or, 6. The best answer is D. According to Shames and
more specifically, velopharyngeal insufficiency is the major Florence, the family is the critical variable for the young
cause of the hypernasal speech associated with cleft palate. child who stutters. Counseling the family should be
The other choices are incorrect because otitis media is not tried first, because the family might be inadvertently
congenital; in cleft palate, the maxillary arch is often contributing to the problem in a way that would render
collapsed and thus is narrow; learned patterns are not other intervention ineffective.
organic; and irregular vocal fold abduction is not associated
7. When dementia is associated with Parkinson's disease,
with cleft palate.
it is usually irreversible. Therefore, the family or caregivers
2. The best answer is B. Reliability is the consistency with must understand the nature of the linguistic and intellectual
which a test measures or the degree to which repeated problems, as well as learn how to maximize the abilities of
measurement with the same instrument of the same the client. The sooner the family or caregivers are made
individual would tend to produce the same result. Larger aware of the condition of the client, the better the
values indicate greater reliability; a reliability of 0.90 or intervention is likely to be. Therefore, the best answer is B.
greater is desirable for a test to be used in making decisions
8. All measures discussed demonstrate improvement.
about individuals.
There is no certainty that the nodules are gone or that the
3. Choices C, D, and E mention disorders that are voice is still abnormal. Perturbation, having gone down,
progressive in nature. Choice B describes a problem that shows some improvement. Based only on the data shown,
is diffused or dispersed throughout the head with major one could say that there is some improvement. Therefore,
impairments to the nerves, whereas the best answer, A, A is the best answer.
is more limited in scope and therefore most likely to be
9. According to the 1995 Code of Ethics of the American
amenable to therapy or treatment.
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the best
4. Generalization probes are a principal feature of answer, D, is allowed. The other choices are not approved
phonological therapy. The answer choices require the and are discussed in Principle of Ethics I, Rule C, Rule F,
clinician to pay attention to position of the fricative sound and Rule G, among others.
in a word and also to the word’s syllable structure. Of the
10. According to the 1995 ASHA Code of Ethics, Principle
choices, only D meets these criteria and is thus the
of Ethics I, Rule F, a speech-language pathologist can make
best answer.
general statements about a client’s prognosis. The other
5. The parents have described adequate syntactic and choices are contrary to the spirit of this ethical position.
semantic knowledge by the child. Testing in English Therefore, D is the best answer.
confirms similar strengths. An area that has been identified
as a weakness is pragmatics and social rules for interaction.
The best answer, therefore, is D.

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