ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the basis assessment of receptive language. The chapter provides an overview of modern studies in language development. The clinician’s judgement of a child’s receptive-language abilities is informed in two ways: knowledge of the usual process of language development and a model of the way in which children process language. It is recognized that language development, along with other aspects of development, has both individual variability as well as general population trends. The importance of the prelinguistic stage for the later development of language has been increasingly recognized in research studies. It is clear that a range of factors influences the language development of a particular child. This is related to the input of language, the way in which it is processed in the brain and its output. The child’s receptive-language skills should not be considered in isolation. They should form part of the whole language profile.
