All About the GFTA-3

The Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation- 3rd Edition (also known as the GFTA-3) is a commonly used assessment that “measures speech sound abilities in the area of articulation in children, adolescents, and young adults.” 

Here are a few things that you need to know before administering the assessment: 

  1. This assessment is administered to individuals ages 2:0 through 21:11. 
  2. The Sounds-in-Words subtest contains 47 visual/picture stimuli and 60 target words.
  3. This subtest measures 23 consonant sounds and 15 consonant clusters. 
  4. The Sounds-in-Sentences subtest assesses speech sounds in connected speech.
  5. This subtest measures 21 consonant sounds and 9 consonant clusters. 
  6. You can also rate the individual’s intelligibility with a scale ranging from good, fair, to poor. 
  7. The GFTA–3 Stimulability task is a supplemental measure that examines previously misarticulated phonemes at the syllable, word, or sentence level in all word positions (if needed). 
  8. Sounds-in-Words, Sounds-in-Sentences, and Stimulability may be used in conjunction to determine the severity of the disorder and to establish appropriate goals. 
  9. The time duration for the assessment typically takes an average of 12 minutes for the Sounds-in-Words subtest and 4 minutes for the Sounds-in-Sentences subtest. 
  10. For test materials, you will need the GFTA-3 manual, record form, and stimulus book for the administration and scoring of the test. 

Other helpful tips/tricks:

  1. I highly encourage a rest period/break for the kiddos who cannot remain focused for a long period of time. 
  2. I like to administer an oral-mechanism examination, speech sample, and occasionally a DDK rate test. These additional assessments are valuable for understanding the child's speech disorder.
  3. Please understand your client’s dialectical background or cultural difference (if applicable) before administrating the assessment. 
  4. If you need a refresher, you can reference Appendix E of the GFTA-3 manual for African American English, Spanish-Influenced English, and Asian-Influenced English. 



2015 NCS Pearson, Inc. (2015).

Va'Keria Miles, M.S., CCC-SLP