This paper examines critically the use of psychometric tests as a means of assessing
language-handicapped children. The nature of psychometric tests is described with
reference to the way in which language scores are derived. The theoretical
assumptions underlying psychometric measures of language are questioned, followed by
a discussion of the difficulties which arise from interpreting language scores. The
practical use of language scores is discussed and emphasis is given to how they
might be incorporated into a scheme for working with language-handicapped
children.
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