The Handbook of Language Assessment Across Modalities

Historically, research on spoken language testing dates back to the late 1920s with the majority of work starting around the time of World War II. In contrast, signed language assessment research is a young area, nested within signed language linguistics, deaf education, and applied linguistics. To this day, very few signed language tests that can be used in applied contexts are available for learners of a signed language.

This volume addresses issues that are inherent to language assessment development, regardless of the modality of the language. Comprised of 36 chapters, the book takes a new approach to exploring theoretical and practical issues related to assessment of signed and spoken languages by bringing together well known experts from both fields to engage in stimulating discussions about key issues related to language assessment. Grouped around twelve topics, the volume editors present different perspectives to emphasize the points of similarity and chart a path for future interdisciplinary collaborations .

Tobias Haug is a professor for sign language and participation of the deaf and hard-of-hearing at the University of Teacher Education in Special Needs, Zurich. His main research include sign language assessment, more specifically rater behavior, automatic sign recognition and assessment, web-based testing, targeting both young and adult learners of sign language, and sign language interpreting.

Wolfgang Mann is a Reader in Special and Inclusive Education at the University of Roehampton, specializing in signed language development and assessment. His other interests include the wider impacts of experiencing a language problem, specifically language development and language difficulties in deaf children, bilingual-bimodal education, online reading, and computer-and mobile-assisted language testing.

Ute Knoch is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in the areas of rating processes, test validity, assessing languages for academic and professional purposes, and placement testing.