BBTOPBankson-Bernthal Test of

Phonology

Description• Developed in 1989

• Authors:

– Nicholas W. Bankson

– John E. Bernthal

• Designed to serve as a quick and easy method for assessment of phonology in preschool and school-age children

• Organized into three sections:

– Consonant Inventory

– Phonological Process Inventory

– Word Inventory

Assessment Goals

• To assess the number of words produced without any consonant misarticulations

• To assess the number of sounds (consonants and consonant clusters) in error.

• To assess the number of errors reflecting one or more of the 10 most frequently occurring phonological processes.

Age Population• Designed primarily for preschool and early

elementary school children– up to grade level 3

• May be given to older children with severe phonologic/articulation problems

• Screening version QSP may be used for a more brief assessment when needed– Quick screen of Phonology (QSP)

– Based on 28 of the original 80 test items.

Test Materials• Picture book:

– 80 simple, colorful pictures for target ages

• Record form:

– Organized into sections for easy recording

• Examiner’s Manual

– Provides source for norm tables for scoring

Consonant Inventory

• Includes most English consonants in the initial and final positions

• Assesses vocalic ‘er’ (stressed and unstressed)

• Selected consonants clusters

Phonological Process Inventory

• Provides a system for reviewing child’s phonologic production for the presence of 10 most frequently occurring phonological processes:

• Assimilation• Fronting• Final consonant deletion• Weak syllable deletion• Stopping• Gliding• Cluster simplification• Depalatilization• Deaffrication• Vocalization

Word Inventory

• Provides a short, reliable measure of overall phonological performance

Test Administration• Administration time: Approximately 10-15

minutes.• Begin with casual conversation to ease child

into comfort zone.• Instruct child to name or describe each picture

that you show them from the picture book.• Clinician prompts are provided in Appendix F

of the examiner’s manual.

Recording Responses• Mark 1 in the box on response form for item in

the column under “Word Correct” if response is articulated correctly.

• Mark incorrect articulations with a 0 and then phonetically transcribe the response.

• Responses other than the target word should be followed with a clinician prompt (Appendix F), then treated as correct/incorrect. Mark Modeled on the record form.

Scoring Word Inventory

• Calculate chronological age

• Sum all words without misarticulations (raw score) and put in appropriate box on the record form

• Refer to Appendix B to locate percentile rank and standard score based on the raw score.

Scoring Consonant Inventory• Turn to page 3 of the record form

• Locate each consonant in it’s specified row

• Mark only those consonants in error by circling I (initial) or F (final)

• For each consonant, count the number of times I and F were circled in its column

• OR you may use the developmental scale scoring method:

– ranges from 0-4

– 0= No difficulty with sound

– 4= Strong evidence of difficulty with sound

Scoring Phonologic Process Inventory

• Form has 10 columns, representing the 10 phonological processes tested

• Each word on the test is listed in each column• Examples of each phonological process are provided in each

column• Circle the word in each column that each specific phonological

process occurs• Total the number of times each process is identified in each column• Add totals to get raw score• Refer to Appendix D in examiner’s manual to convert to %tile

score and standard score.

Test Standardization

• The BBTOP is standardized based on a sample size of 1070 subjects

• Ages 3-9 years

• 61 sites across the United States

• Standardization based on quantifying a child’s phonological performance

Test Norms

• Examiner’s manual provides norm tables for 3 sections of the test

• Based on a Mean of 100 and Standard Deviation of 15

• Norms based on 3 month age intervals from 3-0 to 6-11 and 6 month intervals from 7-0 to 9-11

Pros and Cons

• Pros:• Quick and Easy• Used as a formal test

or as a screening device

• Colorful pictures• Well-organized record

form

• Cons:• Can be confusing to

new examiners• Older test (1989)

Thank You for Your Time and Attention!!!!

Dr. Frank Kersting

Western Kentucky University