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Expressive languageSPELT-3Ages 4;0–9;11

Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, Third Edition

SPELT-3 is the most clinically sensitive single-task expressive language assessment for identifying DLD in the four-to-nine age range, eliciting target morphology and syntax through photographs.

At a glance

Publisher
Janelle Publications
Edition year
2003
Age range
4;0–9;11
Domain
Expressive language
Administration time
15–25 minutes

Standard scores for this battery use a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15 unless noted otherwise in the publisher manual. Always cross-reference against the current edition of the manual before clinical use — publishers update norms and scoring tables on regular cycles.

What SPELT-3 is

The Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, Third Edition is a focused expressive-language probe with a remarkable diagnostic accuracy record for developmental language disorder identification in the early elementary years. The protocol uses 54 photograph stimuli that are designed to elicit specific morphological and syntactic structures — third-person singular -s, regular and irregular past tense, copula and auxiliary forms, prepositions, pronouns, and complex sentence frames. SPELT-3 is published by Janelle Publications. Although it has a smaller normative sample than CELF-5 or CASL-2, its diagnostic accuracy in the published validation work is unusually high — sensitivity and specificity above 90% for identifying DLD in the four-to-nine range when using a standard cut-off — and it is widely used in private practice and university clinic settings as a defensible expressive-language measure.

Subtests and structure

  • Single subtest with 54 photograph elicitation items
  • Items target specific morphological and syntactic structures across the protocol

What SPELT-3 measures

SPELT-3 measures expressive control of specific English morphological and syntactic structures elicited under structured photograph-prompt conditions. The score reflects how many of the target structures the child produces accurately when prompted by the standardised photograph context. SPELT-3 does not measure receptive language, vocabulary, narrative discourse, or pragmatics — it is a focused expressive grammar probe and is used as one piece of a multi-source assessment, not as a standalone comprehensive battery. Its strength is the targeted item set, which forces the child into obligatory contexts for the morphological forms most vulnerable in DLD.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Among the highest published diagnostic accuracy figures for expressive DLD in the four-to-nine age range
  • Targeted item set focuses on the morphology most vulnerable in DLD
  • Compact administration — usable as a screening or as a confirming probe
  • Strong clinical reputation in private and university clinic practice

Limitations

  • Smaller normative sample than the major comprehensive batteries
  • Lower district-level recognition in school IEP committees than CELF-5
  • Single-format elicitation may underestimate functional grammar in some children
  • Original edition published in 2003; clinicians should verify continued availability and norms applicability

How language sample analysis complements SPELT-3

SPELT-3 elicits specific grammatical targets under examiner control; a connected-speech sample captures whether the child uses the same grammar in spontaneous speech. The combination is unusually powerful in the early elementary range. SPELT-3 can identify the child whose grammar is depressed, and the language sample tells you what the depressed grammar actually looks like in functional communication — the specific tense and agreement forms the child omits in conversation, the sentence-length ceiling, and the morphological substitutions that drive the IEP goal targets. Pair SPELT-3 with a 50-utterance LSA scored for MLU-M, percent grammatical utterances, and Brown's morpheme tracking. Children identified by SPELT-3 almost always show the same pattern in connected speech, but the magnitude of the gap can differ by more than a standard deviation depending on the elicitation format.

“When you need a defensible expressive-language number in fifteen minutes for a five-year-old, SPELT-3 is the right tool. Pair it with a five-minute play sample and you have an expressive grammar workup that beats most of the longer batteries.”
Fifteen minutes, defensible

Free tools that pair with SPELT-3

MLU Calculator

Paste a language sample and get Mean Length of Utterance in morphemes and words, total utterances, total morphemes, and the matching Brown's stage. Implements Brown (1973) morpheme counting rules and runs entirely in your browser.

Open tool

Brown's Stages Lookup

Interactive reference for Brown's (1973) five stages of grammatical development. Look up a stage by child age or MLU, see the MLU range, acquired morphemes, example utterances, and clinical milestones for each stage.

Open tool

DSS Calculator

Free Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) calculator for speech-language pathologists. Paste 50 sentences, tap weighted points across the eight Lee (1974) grammatical categories — Indefinite Pronouns, Personal Pronouns, Main Verbs, Secondary Verbs, Negatives, Conjunctions, Interrogative Reversals, Wh-Questions — plus the all-correct sentence point, and the calculator returns the live DSS with a per-category breakdown. Mobile-friendly tap-through grid, client-side, no sign-up.

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Language Sample Worksheet

Free printable and fillable language sample analysis worksheet for speech-language pathologists. Five columns (utterance #, transcription, morpheme count, grammatical Y/N, notes), configurable row count up to 100 utterances, browser print produces a clean PDF, and an inline running summary tracks total utterances, total morphemes, and rolling MLU as you fill it in.

Open tool

Related assessments

Comprehensive language · CELF-5

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fifth Edition

CELF-5 is the most widely used comprehensive language battery in school-age SLP practice, covering receptive and expressive language from kindergarten through age 21.

Comprehensive language · TOLD-P:5

Test of Language Development - Primary, Fifth Edition

TOLD-P:5 is the comprehensive language battery for the early elementary range, valued for strong sentence-level grammar subtests and competitive psychometrics.

Comprehensive language · CASL-2

Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language, Second Edition

CASL-2 is a flexible comprehensive language battery that lets clinicians assemble a tailored assessment from 14 subtests across lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic domains.

References

  1. Dawson, J. I., Stout, C. E., & Eyer, J. A. (2003). Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, Third Edition. Janelle Publications.
  2. Greenslade, K. J., Plante, E., & Vance, R. (2009). The diagnostic accuracy and construct validity of the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test–Preschool: Second Edition. LSHSS, 40(2), 150–160.
  3. Plante, E., & Vance, R. (1994). Selection of preschool language tests: A data-based approach. LSHSS, 25(1), 15–24.