In the video on the next slide we see how a teaching assistant uses simple, objective
tests to assess a child’s knowledge of vocabulary for things. It shows Zoe,
a teaching assistant, working with Louise, a seven year old pupil.
The focus of much of the language and development work is upon teaching Louise the
names for a range of familiar items.
There are some doubts about Louise’s ability to recognise even familiar objects
from pictorial representations and so teaching usually proceeds using actual objects.
However, she is now being taught to associate clear photos of items with the actual
objects through object-photo matching games.
Note that Zoe gives Louise plenty of time to respond as well as keeping her language simple. Also, she is careful to avoid giving Louise any other cues to the correct response. This is not as easy as it looks.
