Language Assessment

2016 Words5 Pages

The ability to test a student’s language skills is essential to have as a teacher. Over the years, classrooms have become much more diverse with a wide variety of impairments being presented on a daily basis. Often, these disabilities contain a language impairment that appears as a side effect of the main disability. Unfortunately, assessing language is not as easy as one may think because it is not clearly defined and understood. Kuder (2008) writes that “…language is not a unitary phenomenon- it is ‘multidimensional, complex, and dynamic; it involves many interrelated processes and abilities; and it changes from situation to situation” (pg. 274). Language also develops at different times for different individuals, thus making language assessment an even harder task for test administrators to grade and evaluate. In order to further understand the language impairment that students present, teachers need to be aware of appropriate language tests that could be administered. In order to assure that the best language test is being issued to a student, several various tests exist to choose from. To test a student’s overall language capability, a comprehensive language test, such as the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) or the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS), could be administered. If a teacher wanted to test a specific language skill such as pragmatics, phonology, syntax, or semantics, the teacher would need to find the best test for the student’s unique situation. Pragmatics, the language of conversation, is a large component of language that unfortunately, many individuals have difficulties with. Beginning at a young age, teachers and other adults can generally sense a problem with a child’s socialization s... ... middle of paper ... ...of Spoken Language (CASL) Publication Summary Form. Retrieved from http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/E56A4DA9-DF5C-4760-8FA2-220065C369AE/4310/caslinternet1.pdf Kuder, S.J. (2008). Teaching Students with Language and Communication Disabilities (3rd edition). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Oral and Written Language Scales, Second Edition (OWLS-II), Western Psychological Services. Retrieved from http://portal.wpspublish.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,279547&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Phonemic Awareness and Rapid Naming. Retrieved from http://www.proedinc.com/customer/productview.aspx?id=1615 Young, E.C., Diehl, J.J., Morris, D., Hyman, S.L., Bennetto, L. (2005). The Use of Two Language Tests to Identify Pragmatic Language Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 36(1), 62-72.

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