Summary of Best Practices

What are some overall best practices for assessing heritage language learners? 

Although each of these types of assessment requires a different approach, a number of best practices apply to many testing situations with heritage learners. Here are some practices we recommend when assessing HLLs:

• Understand the linguistic and cultural profiles of your students
• Recognize the language varieties represented in your community
• Use multimodal assessments with authentic, performance-based tasks
• Incorporate an assets-based approach to assessment that recognizes and builds upon students’ strengths, including cultural competence
• Utilize differentiated, alternative methods of instruction and assessment