Intended for classroom teachers, this book suggests some approaches to assessing children's language, describes some practices, and advises teachers of some of the problems in child language assessment. Chapter one provides illustrations of assessing child language usage, including looking at a piece of writing, administering a reading test, listening to a pupil read aloud, and responding to examination answers. Chapter two discusses the structures of assessment (the surface features of language use, the process of language, and the "basics" of language), their implications for teaching, and their implications for assessing. Chapter three focuses on tests, examinations, and their alternatives. The final chapter restates the guidelines for assessing children's language and considers how these guidelines might assist in the assessment problems used as examples. A glossary and bibliography are included. (RL)