Developing an Inventory to Evaluate Communication Skills of Children With Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss

Abstract

Researchers state that communication skills, which are developed before language acquisition and have very important place in language development, are 1) directing attention, 2) turn-taking, 3) imitation, 4) communicative purposes, and 5) conversation. As in all children, communication skills in children with hearing loss are very important. It is very important to identify children who have problems with their communication skills and to provide appropriate education. Standardized tests are generally used to assess children's language and communication skills in Turkey, but there are no informal tools that allow the assessment of early communication skills. Therefore, in this chapter, firstly, communication skills will be briefly defined and the disadvantages and advantages of formal and informal assessment and evaluation approaches will be discussed. Afterwards, the scope and development process of the informal communication skills inventory (ICSI) based on natural data collection in various contexts will be presented with sample items from the inventory.