The Sydney Language Battery

The Sydney Language Battery (SYDBAT) is a short but comprehensive measure of expressive and receptive language abilities. The SYDBAT was primarily developed to assist clinicians in differentiating the various forms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Used in conjunction with other cognitive tests, this freely-accessible tool can be used in any clinical setting to assist with the profiling of language disturbance.


The SYDBAT comprises four subtests:

1) Naming

2) Repetition

3) Comprehension

4) Semantic Association


Each subtest uses the same multi-syllabic (at least 3 syllables), imageable nouns. The items are ordered into three levels of difficulty, based on decreasing word frequency. Detailed administration and scoring guidelines are provided with the test. Cut-off scores to detect impaired performances have been published to aid interpretation.