Assessment is an essential component of an effective bilingual literacy program. The relationship between language and literacy is complex. For bilingual individuals, the complexity of that relationship is increased. When bilingualism involves a signed language, the relationship becomes even more complicated, and disentangling the critical strands of language and literacy learning can be an ongoing challenge. This chapter provides a strengths-based perspective to guide educators in their assessment considerations when developing the literacy abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) bilingual learners, defined as children who are learning a signed language and concurrently a spoken/written language, such as ASL–English. In particular, the chapter explores the valuable ways that signed language abilities contribute to literacy development. Also highlighted is the critical and ongoing need for effective and culturally responsive signed language measures to better inform literacy teaching approaches.
Social Robots and Young Children’s Early Language and Literacy Learning
