EVAL: A computerized language analysis program for clinicians

Abstract

Clinicians generally have limited time to evaluate their aphasic clients, and thus are often unable to include discourse-level language in their assessments. Sampling and analyzing language at the discourse level by hand can be very time-consuming, but since it is the level at which day-to-day communication occurs, it provides important information about language use and competence in context. It can also point the way to functional goals for therapy. In this presentation we will illustrate the use of EVAL, a recent addition to the wide array of CLAN computerized language analysis programs freely available from TalkBank (MacWhinney, 2000). EVAL is designed for quick and simple use by clinicians. It measures 25 language characteristics in a transcription of discourse and displays them in an Excel spreadsheet. It can then compare the results with those of a comparison group selected from the AphasiaBank database, or it can compare the results with those of the same participant at earlier or later measurement times (e.g., pre- and post-therapy). It is based on a simplified system of transcription and error coding, designed with the time constraints of busy clinicians in mind. While transcription is done in the CHAT format required for CLAN programs, it can be less detailed