The Test of Adolescent/Adult Word Finding–Second Edition (TAWF-2) is a norm-referenced, single-word expressive language test expressly designed to assess the word-finding ability of adolescents and adults. It can be used to identify individuals who have word-finding problems, plan word finding intervention, and measure word finding ability in research studies.
Features of the TAWF-2
- All new normative data were collected in 2009-2013
- New noun and verb target words have been added
- Contains both the 80-item Complete Test and the 28-item Brief Test for use with examinees or in situations where the Complete Test is not feasible
- Studies showing the absence of racial and gender bias are reported
- Information pertaining to the TAWF-2’s diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, and ROC/AUC) is provided
- The lexical processing model underlying TAWF-2 has been updated to reflect current thinking regarding word retrieval
- The Comprehension Check functions as a built-in assessment of examinees’ word knowledge
- Adolescents and adults with diagnosed word finding difficulties were included in the norming sample
- The standardized assessment and informal analyses are integral features of comprehensive word finding assessments
The Standardized Assessment
The standardized assessment has four naming sections, the results of which are combined to form the overall Word Finding Index:
- Picture Naming: Nouns—assesses efficiency in naming compound and 1 to 4 syllable target words
- Sentence Completion Naming—assesses efficiency in naming words to complete sentences read aloud by the examiner
- Picture Naming: Verbs—assesses efficiency in naming present and past-tense regular and irregular verbs
- Picture Naming: Word Groups—assesses efficiency in naming nouns in semantic and phonemic word groups
The standardized assessment has ample evidence of reliability and validity:
- The internal consistency (content sampling) reliability coefficient for the Complete Test = .88.
- The test-retest (time sampling) coefficient for the Word Finding Index = .95 for the Complete Test.
- The average correlation of the Word Finding Index with those of other well-known expressive language tests is large in magnitude.
- Diagnostic accuracy studies indicate that the TAWF-2 is able to accurately identify students with word finding difficulties (i.e., sensitivity = .93, specificity = .82, ROC/AUC = .94, cut score = 90).
- Considerable other validity evidence is provided in the manual.
The Informal Assessment
Five informal analyses are also provided. Three of these analyses (the Phonemic Cueing Procedure, the Imitation Procedure, and the Substitution Analysis) examine types of word finding errors individuals make. The remaining informal analyses (the Delayed Response Procedure and the Secondary Characteristics Tally) contribute to interpreting the Word Finding Index.
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