For Deaf and Hoh students with language goals, collecting language samples gleans insight on errors in language use (grammar, syntax, semantics, morphology, nonliteral language, etc) that may apply to their functional communication abilities. Language samples may consist of written, signed, and spoken language samples. Written language samples are the easiest way to see this, but if appropriate for a student who uses spoken language, collecting an oral language sample on the same topic as the written sample for comparison between the two is ideal.

Sometimes, collecting a language sample across modalities on the same topic (sign, spoken, written) can assist a clinician in determining the true root of English language difficulties. For example:

• For a student who uses spoken English or sim-comm, collecting both a spoken and a written language sample may allow clinician to compare/contrast functional language usage between modalities (e.g, whether final grammatical morpheme “-ed” are omitted due to a lack of knowledge about English grammar/morphology, or if it is omitted due to a phonological error pattern, such as final consonant or weak syllable deletion).
• A student who primarily uses ASL is able to generate a story in sign complete with ASL grammatical elements, but when tasked with writing the same story in English, they omit grammar elements specific to English (conjunctions, articles, past tense “-ed”, etc).

It is crucial to remember that SLPs target underlying language skills, but are not specialists in ASL. SLPs treat underlying language processes that may present across modalities, but teaching and improving ASL should be designated to a Deaf individual who signs when possible.

Language samples can be gathered via a writing task, video recording, or audio recording. Format should consider the student’s preferred communication (e.g. spoken language, ASL, sim-comm), and their specific goals for communication services.

For varying linguistic complexity, topics can be less cognitively demanding (retelling a wordless picture series or describing a life event) or more challenging (describing academic topic or a procedure/process related to their profession). Topic familiarity should be considered for those with culturally and/or educationally diverse backgrounds. If needed for older students, ask probing questions to elicit more complex language and avoid simple descriptions. Challenge them with tasks like:

• comparing a story’s theme to personal experiences
• interpreting behaviors or actions of characters in a story
• providing rationale as to why a certain event occurred
• making predictions based on information presented

Elicitation strategy can also influence the presence of errors in a sample. A student writing a sample with pencil and paper may produce a different sample compared to a student typing their sample on a laptop with access to features, like spell-check.