Introduction

The assessment of language development is aimed at establishing the level of competence or proficiency attained by children and second-language learners in the linguistic knowledge and abilities involved in speaking, listening, reading and writing activities.

From a theoretical point of view, language development assessment rests on similar assumptions and biases as adult language assessment. See Language (General) in this volume. Unlike language adult testing, however, language development assessment presupposes that the linguistic subject's competencies and abilities are not yet fully developed, and thus should be assessed at some intermediate point between an initial non-linguistic state (typical of newborns and people beginning to learn a second language), and the final state typical of people possessing a basic linguistic competence (e.g. normally developed children above 6–7 years old ...