Formative Assessment for Student Progress and Program Improvement in Sign Language as L2 Programs

Abstract

This chapter reviews the current research literature on assessment of sign language (SL) learning and proficiency in general, and the definitions of summative and formative assessment. We concentrate on the importance of formative assessment (FA) for second language learners (L2) and teachers of SLs, and how FA can be used as feedback for progress measurement of learner skills and as a tool for evaluating instructional effectiveness within programs. Moreover, we explore the relevance and efficacy of one approach that is currently being used online at a very large university SL program in the USA as a pioneering FA tool. We conclude that the SL as L2 field needs more assessment tools that have proven reliability based on empirical trials with large numbers of learners. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.