Speech & Language Pathologist exam questions
3 exam-length papers built to the published Speech & Language Pathologist blueprint.
DHA SPL6732Pass 60%3 papers · 480 Qs
What is riding on this exam
~AED 880
Exam fee, per attempt
Published by DHA. Paid again on every re-sit.
3
Attempts - in total
The cap is three across all UAE authorities, not three each.
60%
Pass mark
Pass or fail only. Your score is never released.
One failed attempt costs you the fee again, plus months of delay on your licence, your visa and your start date. This bank costs about a 4th of one exam fee.
Try two questions from this bank
Real questions from the bank - pick an answer to see the rationale and reference.
Q1Typical Development, Linguistics, Phonetics & Multilingual Communication
Which set of features correctly describes the English vowel /u/, as in "boot"?
Choose an answer to see the rationale.
Q2Acquired Neurogenic Language & Cognitive-Communication Disorders
A team is setting up a Constraint-Induced Language Therapy group. Which planned element is INCONSISTENT with the principles of CILT and should be changed?
Choose an answer to see the rationale.
Not sure where you stand? Sit 25 of these questions free, timed at real exam pace, and see which domains you are weakest in.
Take the free mock exam →Liked those? The full bank has 480 questions at this standard - every one with a rationale and a reference.
Get the full bank - AED 249What's inside
- ✓3 full-length papers (~150 Q each)
- ✓480 questions, no overlap between papers
- ✓Four options, one unambiguous best answer
- ✓A full rationale on every question
- ✓A real guideline or textbook reference
- ✓Every sub-topic in the published blueprint
Exam route by authority
| Authority | Delivered by | Specialist title |
|---|---|---|
| DHA - Dubai | Prometric | Computer-based MCQ |
| DOH - Abu Dhabi | Pearson VUE | Computer-based MCQ |
| MOHAP - Northern Emirates | Prometric | Computer-based MCQ |
| SCFHS - Saudi Arabia | Prometric / Pearson | Computer-based MCQ |
| QCHP - Qatar | Prometric | Computer-based MCQ |
| NHRA - Bahrain | Prometric | Computer-based MCQ |
| OMSB - Oman | Prometric | MCQ then oral viva |
Assessment mode depends on your licence title as well as your profession. Confirm your own route on your Sheryan / TAMM eligibility notice.
What the Speech & Language Pathologist exam covers
The published blueprint for this exam breaks into 13 domains and 240 testable sub-topics. Our bank covers every one of them - here is the full map, so you can see exactly what you are expected to know.
Anatomy, Physiology & Neuroscience of Speech, Voice, Hearing and Swallowing~8% (est.)17 topics
- Respiratory system for speech: lung volumes and capacities, subglottal pressure, tidal versus speech breathing, chest-wall mechanics
- Laryngeal anatomy: cartilages (thyroid, cricoid, arytenoid, epiglottis), intrinsic and extrinsic muscles and their actions on the vocal folds
- Vocal fold layered (cover-body) structure, mucosal wave, myoelastic-aerodynamic theory of phonation
- Velopharyngeal mechanism: soft palate, levator veli palatini, superior pharyngeal constrictor, Passavant's ridge and velopharyngeal closure patterns
- Articulatory anatomy: tongue musculature (intrinsic/extrinsic), mandible, lips, hard palate, dentition and occlusal classes (Angle I-III)
- Cranial nerves critical to speech and swallowing: V, VII, IX, X (including recurrent and superior laryngeal branches), XI, XII - course, function and lesion signs
- +11 more in the bank
Typical Development, Linguistics, Phonetics & Multilingual Communication~6% (est.)18 topics
- Prelinguistic development: cooing, canonical babbling, jargon, joint attention, gesture and early intentional communication
- Milestones for expressive and receptive language from birth to adolescence, including MLU (Brown's stages) and vocabulary growth curves
- Phonological development: order and age of speech sound acquisition, phonological processes and expected suppression ages
- Morphological development: Brown's 14 grammatical morphemes and their order of acquisition
- Syntactic development: sentence complexity, question and negation forms, embedded and conjoined clauses
- Semantic development: fast mapping, overextension and underextension, semantic relations, figurative and non-literal language
- +12 more in the bank
Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, Psychometrics & Differential Diagnosis~10% (est.)18 topics
- Role of the SLP in screening for speech, language, hearing, cognition and swallowing; screening protocols and pass/refer criteria
- Populations at risk for communication and swallowing disorders and the rationale for surveillance versus formal evaluation
- Case-history taking: record review, structured interview, parent/caregiver report and identifying red-flag information
- Selecting assessment tools: purpose, target population, normative sample representativeness and ceiling/floor effects
- Psychometric principles: reliability (test-retest, inter- and intra-rater, internal consistency) and validity (content, construct, criterion, predictive)
- Interpreting scores: raw scores, standard scores, z-scores, percentiles, age equivalents, standard error of measurement and confidence intervals
- +12 more in the bank
Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation & Phonology~8% (est.)18 topics
- Classification of speech sound disorders: articulation (motor/phonetic) versus phonological (linguistic/cognitive) versus motor-speech
- Aetiologies: functional/idiopathic, structural (cleft, ankyloglossia, malocclusion), sensory (hearing loss) and neurological
- Phonological process analysis: syllable structure, substitution and assimilation processes; identifying non-developmental (atypical) processes
- Independent versus relational analysis; phonetic and phonemic inventories, phonotactic and syllable-shape analysis
- Stimulability testing, inconsistency assessment and their use in target selection and prognosis
- Percentage of consonants correct (PCC) and other intelligibility metrics; intelligibility in context scale
- +12 more in the bank
Fluency Disorders~6% (est.)18 topics
- Normal (typical) disfluency versus stuttering-like disfluency; part-word repetitions, prolongations and blocks
- Onset, developmental course, spontaneous recovery rates and persistence risk factors in childhood-onset fluency disorder
- Aetiological models: multifactorial, genetic, neurophysiological (Demands and Capacities, dual diathesis-stressor)
- Assessment of fluency: percentage of syllables stuttered, frequency, duration, type, secondary behaviours and speech rate
- Standardised fluency measures (SSI, Test of Childhood Stuttering) and self-report/attitude tools (OASES, KiddyCAT, Communication Attitude Test)
- Assessment of the affective, behavioural and cognitive impact of stuttering, including avoidance and covert stuttering
- +12 more in the bank
Voice, Resonance, Craniofacial & Laryngeal Disorders~8% (est.)18 topics
- Perceptual voice assessment: CAPE-V and GRBAS parameters (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain)
- Acoustic voice analysis: fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, cepstral peak prominence, voice range profile
- Aerodynamic measures: maximum phonation time, s/z ratio, mean airflow, subglottal pressure and laryngeal resistance
- Videostroboscopy interpretation: glottal closure pattern, mucosal wave, amplitude, symmetry, periodicity and supraglottic activity
- Patient-reported outcome measures: Voice Handicap Index, V-RQOL, Reflux Symptom Index and paediatric equivalents
- Phonotraumatic lesions: vocal nodules, polyps, cysts, Reinke's oedema and contact granuloma - features and management
- +12 more in the bank
Motor Speech Disorders: Dysarthria & Apraxia~6% (est.)18 topics
- The Mayo classification of dysarthria: flaccid, spastic, ataxic, hypokinetic, hyperkinetic, unilateral upper motor neuron and mixed types
- Localisation of lesion by dysarthria type and the deviant speech dimensions characteristic of each
- Assessment of the speech subsystems: respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation and prosody
- Diadochokinetic rate (AMR and SMR), maximum performance tasks and their diagnostic interpretation
- Intelligibility and comprehensibility measurement; standardised tools such as the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment
- Dysarthria in Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, cerebral palsy and stroke
- +12 more in the bank
Acquired Neurogenic Language & Cognitive-Communication Disorders~9% (est.)19 topics
- Aphasia classification: Broca's, Wernicke's, conduction, global, transcortical motor, transcortical sensory, mixed transcortical and anomic
- Classification framework by fluency, auditory comprehension, repetition and naming; lesion correlates of each syndrome
- Paraphasias (phonemic, semantic, neologistic), jargon, agrammatism, paragrammatism, perseveration and press of speech
- Alexia and agraphia subtypes, including alexia without agraphia and deep/surface/phonological dyslexia
- Standardised aphasia batteries: WAB-R, Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, Boston Naming Test, CAT and functional measures (ASHA FACS, CADL)
- Aphasia treatment: semantic feature analysis, phonological components analysis, response elaboration training, verb network strengthening (VNeST)
- +13 more in the bank
Dysphagia: Feeding & Swallowing Across the Lifespan~10% (est.)20 topics
- Clinical/bedside swallow evaluation: history, cognition, oral-motor exam, secretion management, trial boluses and cervical auscultation
- Signs of aspiration and penetration, silent aspiration, and the clinical limits of bedside assessment
- Dysphagia screening tools and the role of nursing screens (e.g. water swallow tests) before SLP assessment
- Videofluoroscopic swallow study (MBS): protocol, radiation safety, barium consistencies, MBSImP and Penetration-Aspiration Scale
- Fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES): indications, contraindications, sensory testing, secretion scales and interpretation
- Other instrumentation: manometry, ultrasound, scintigraphy, surface EMG and their appropriate use
- +14 more in the bank
Hearing, Audiology & Aural Rehabilitation~5% (est.)18 topics
- Types of hearing loss: conductive, sensorineural, mixed, central auditory processing disorder and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder
- Degrees and configurations of hearing loss and their functional impact on speech perception
- Pure-tone audiometry: air and bone conduction, masking, audiogram interpretation and the speech banana
- Speech audiometry: speech reception threshold, speech detection threshold, word recognition scores
- Immittance testing: tympanogram types (A, As, Ad, B, C), static compliance and acoustic reflex interpretation
- Otoacoustic emissions, auditory brainstem response and newborn hearing screening pathways
- +12 more in the bank
Augmentative & Alternative Communication, Assistive Technology and Instrumentation~4% (est.)18 topics
- Unaided versus aided AAC; no-tech, low-tech, mid-tech and high-tech speech-generating devices
- AAC candidacy: dispelling prerequisite myths, and evidence that AAC supports rather than suppresses natural speech
- Participation Model and feature-matching assessment for device and system selection
- Symbol systems and hierarchy: objects, photographs, line drawings (PCS), Blissymbols, orthography and iconicity/transparency
- Vocabulary organisation: core versus fringe vocabulary, activity-based displays, taxonomic and semantic-syntactic grids, visual scene displays
- Rate enhancement: word prediction, message banking, abbreviation expansion, semantic compaction (Minspeak)
- +12 more in the bank
Professionalism, Ethics, Patient Safety, Infection Control, Scope of Practice & Evidence-Based Practice~11% (est.)20 topics
- Scope of practice for speech-language pathology: service-delivery domains (collaboration, counselling, prevention and wellness, screening, assessment, treatment, modalities/technology, population and systems) and professional practice domains (advocacy, supervision, education, research, administration)
- Practising within personal competence: recognising limits, obtaining training, and declining or referring out when a case exceeds competence
- GCC licensure framework: DHA, DOH Abu Dhabi, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP/DHP, NHRA and OMSB - registration, DataFlow primary-source verification, scope categories, title protection, licence renewal cycles and CPD/CME requirements
- Ethical principles and codes of ethics (beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice, veracity, fidelity; ASHA/RCSLT and GCC authority codes): honesty in credentials, prohibition of misrepresentation and of guaranteeing outcomes
- Informed consent and assent: capacity, guardianship, minors, cognitively impaired adults, and consent for recording, photography and research
- Confidentiality, patient privacy and data protection: health-record law, electronic records, secure messaging and the limits of confidentiality
- +14 more in the bank
Before you book your exam
Speech & Language Pathologist licensing in the GCC
Requirements, timelines and salary by country
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Licensing in the UAE
DHA, DOH and MOHAP compared
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Frequently asked questions
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