erzähltest

Erzähltest is a term used in German-speaking contexts to denote an assessment of narrative ability. In linguistics, speech-language pathology and cognitive psychology, it involves eliciting or assessing a person's ability to produce coherent narratives, either spontaneously or from prompts.

The test commonly examines macrostructure and microstructure. Macrostructure refers to the overall story grammar: setting, initiating event, sequence of actions, problem, plan, resolution, and moral or message. Microstructure covers linguistic aspects such as vocabulary diversity, syntactic complexity, and cohesion.

Administration methods include free narration, retelling a story read or heard, or describing a sequence of pictures or video clips. The spoken narrative is typically recorded and transcribed for analysis, with prompts adjusted to age, development level or clinical need. It is used with children and adults, including individuals with aphasia, traumatic brain injury, or dementia.

Scoring can be quantitative, qualitative, or a combination. Quantitative measures include mean length of utterance, number of propositions, and lexical diversity; qualitative analyses rate coherence, cohesion, and the completeness of the story grammar. Standardization and normative data vary by language and population and influence interpretation.

Applications span language development research, diagnostic assessment, and rehabilitation planning. Limitations include subjectivity in scoring, influence of education and culture, and the need for reliable administration and trained raters. Erzähltests should be used as part of a comprehensive assessment.