This presentation describes the adaptation process of multiple sign language development assessment instruments for Finnish Sign Language. Additionally, we will explain how the teacher were trained to use the assessment instruments and how the large data on children acquiring FinSL was collected in collaboration with researchers and teachers.
Documenting children's language development is important for everyone involved in the child's education. However, there is a lack of appropriate tests for measuring sign language development in many countries, including in Finland. Currently, there are no tests to assess Finnish Sign Language (FinSL) skills and determine children's level of development at the beginning of schooling as well as to monitor the appropriate educational support or its success. However, in the case of FinSL there is not enough previous research to provide a linguistic foundation for the development of language assessment tools. In the present study we adapted multiple sign language development assessment instruments for FinSL and explored the language development and features in the linguistic environment of children acquiring FinSL. Four sign language development assessment tools measuring vocabulary knowledge, receptive skills and narrative skills were chosen to be adapted from British Sign Language for FinSL. The adaptation process followed the steps outlined in previous studies (Mann, Sheng & Morgan, 2016). All the assessment tools were developed in a web-based format. After piloting the assessment battery, 20 teachers were trained to use the new FinSL assessment battery. In collaboration with teachers and researchers, the FinSL development of 100 children was aimed to be assessed using the assessment battery. The results for the reliability and validity of the adapted FinSL assessment instruments showed that the FinSL versions measured children's FinSL development in similar ways with previous versions of different assessment instruments. The strength of these results demonstrated that the adaptation process to be a reliable and valid way to develop assessment tools for lesser researched sign languages. The presentation describes in more detail the different phases of the research project, namely (1) the test material adaptation process and web-based format, (2) teacher training and (3) results on FinSL development of children studied.
