The key to effective intervention is competent and thorough assessment. In this section we will focus on assessment of spoken English, including segmental and suprasegmental aspects of speech and phonological, semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic aspects of spoken language use.

Our concern is with how successfully an individual communicates face to face using English (spoken only or with sign) and with how competencies in conversational English relate to literacy. We place these assessments within a broader context of communication competency assessment and within a theoretical framework that developing face to face communication competence influences and promotes the attainment of textual literacy.

Assessments include: perceptual and acoustic analyses of speech, linguistic analyses of spoken utterances, self-reports, and explorations of the affective dimensions of spoken communication use.