Issues in sign language test development - more elaborated research vs. "quick and dirty"?
2010-07-28 12:54 by Tobias Haug (0 comments)
In a session on sign language assessment for deaf and hard-of-hearing children on the ICED 2010 in Vancouver, different issues how to approach the development or adaptation of sign language tests have been presented. One proposal was to go one step back and consider that we need to know more about the actual sign language development of deaf children. On the other hand, reliable and valid sign language tests are needed in the schools for the deaf, which has been confirmed in different surveys conducted in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the US. Does this necessarily leads to a "quick and dirty" approach? I.e. to use sign language tests that are not reliable and valid?
I think there are to main issues to be considered that are no opposed to each other:
(1) There is no doubt, that we do need to learn more about the sign language development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children and apply this knowledge in future test development.
(2) There are methodological approaches available to develop or adapt reliable and valid test instruments that can be used in schools.
It is not about to do more research on sign language development and then start to develop or adapt sign language tests - both can happen at the same time and can contribute to a gain of knowledge that has practical and theoretical implication!
I think there are to main issues to be considered that are no opposed to each other:
(1) There is no doubt, that we do need to learn more about the sign language development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children and apply this knowledge in future test development.
(2) There are methodological approaches available to develop or adapt reliable and valid test instruments that can be used in schools.
It is not about to do more research on sign language development and then start to develop or adapt sign language tests - both can happen at the same time and can contribute to a gain of knowledge that has practical and theoretical implication!