Which assessment is used to measure oral-language proficiency in one of 32 languages by asking testers to describe a set of images?

• A. BINL Basic Inventory of Natural Language
• B. LAS Language Assessment Scale
• C. IPT Idea Proficiency Test
• D. Open syllable

Answer: (A)

This task targets expressive oral language by having testers describe a set of images, which reveals how well a person can use vocabulary, grammar, and fluency in speech. The Basic Inventory of Natural Language is designed exactly for this: it uses image description prompts across multiple languages (about 32 languages), asking the tester to describe pictures to elicit natural spoken language. Because the same image prompts generate comparable speech samples in different languages, it’s the right fit for measuring oral-language proficiency across those languages. Other options don’t center on describing images to assess spoken language across many languages, or they measure different constructs, so they aren’t as appropriate for this purpose.