WIAT Oral Language Composite 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On the WIAT Oral Language Composite, which subtest requires a student to listen to a passage and then answer questions about it?
- Oral Word Fluency
- Listening Comprehension (Correct answer)
- Oral Expression
- Sentence Repetition
Correct answer: Listening Comprehension
Listening Comprehension assesses a student's ability to understand spoken passages and answer related questions.
Question 2: A child scores significantly lower on the Oral Language Composite than on the Written Expression Composite. This pattern most likely suggests difficulty with:
- Decoding phonemes
- Processing and producing spoken language (Correct answer)
- Reading fluency
- Visual-motor integration
Correct answer: Processing and producing spoken language
A lower Oral Language score relative to Written Expression indicates the core deficit is in spoken language processing and production.
Question 3: Which skill is NOT directly measured by the WIAT-4 Oral Language Composite?
- Receptive vocabulary
- Expressive vocabulary
- Oral word fluency
- Phonological decoding (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Phonological decoding
Phonological decoding is assessed in the Reading composite, not the Oral Language Composite.
Question 4: During the Oral Expression subtest, an examiner asks a student to describe a picture using complete sentences. This task primarily assesses:
- Reading comprehension
- Expressive language formulation (Correct answer)
- Auditory memory
- Phonemic awareness
Correct answer: Expressive language formulation
Describing a picture in complete sentences requires expressive language formulation, a core Oral Expression skill.
Question 5: The Oral Language Composite on the WIAT is considered a composite score because it:
- Combines scores from multiple oral language subtests (Correct answer)
- Averages reading and oral scores together
- Is derived solely from one subtest
- Measures only receptive language skills
Correct answer: Combines scores from multiple oral language subtests
A composite score is formed by combining scaled scores from multiple related subtests into a single index.
Question 6: When interpreting WIAT Oral Language scores, a score of 85 (with a mean of 100 and SD of 15) falls in which descriptive range?
- Average
- Low Average (Correct answer)
- Below Average
- Borderline
Correct answer: Low Average
A score of 85 falls one standard deviation below the mean, placing it in the Low Average range (typically 80–89).
Question 7: A student with strong Listening Comprehension but weak Oral Expression scores on the WIAT most likely has difficulty with:
- Understanding spoken language
- Producing and formulating spoken language (Correct answer)
- Following multi-step directions
- Auditory processing
Correct answer: Producing and formulating spoken language
Strong Listening Comprehension indicates intact receptive skills, while weak Oral Expression points to a deficit in language production.
WIAT Oral Language Composite 2
On the WIAT Oral Language Composite, which subtest requires a student to listen to a passage and then answer questions about it?