of Children’s Language Development 129 ‘Asceseme Cheeklist Assessing Language Development Child's name; at Always Sometimes Never Comments Makes phoneme sounds Speaks in’one-word sentences ‘Speaks in two-word sentences | Identifies familiar sounds Differentiates similar sounds Understands the language of others when spoken | | Follows verbal directions WA | | ‘Speaks to others freely vA Pronounces words correctly Speaks in complete sentences Has appropriate vocabulary for level of maturity A | Uses varied syntactic structures Can be understood by others, | Teacher Comments: file cards offer two means for keeping anecdotal records. These records require no particular format. Rather, the teacher or parent simply writes down inci dents or episodes on the days they occur. Samples of a child’s language and sit- uations involving language can be recorded. Like checklists, anecdotal samples are necessary periodically to determine growth over a school year. Audio and video taping are another means of evaluating language. The pro- cess can take the form of an open interview or a hidden recording. Children who are unaware that they are being audio or video taped are likely to be more spon- taneous and uninhibited (Genishi & Dyson, 1984; McGee, 2007; Otto, 2006). Its often difficult, however, to place a tape recorder where it will record lan- ‘guage clearly enough to transcribe and analyze. Interviews with children can be ‘more natural when an adult familiar to the child does the interviewing. Or itis also helpful to allow the tape recorder to become such a familiar tool in the class- room that the child uses it often in the language arts center. Under such circum- stances, the machine is not threatening when used in an assessment interview.