Carol Scheffner Hammer was once a speech pathologist on Saipan, in the United States Com­monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

“The whole island is four by 11 miles but encompasses 14 languages,” recalls Hammer, Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders. “You couldn’t find much about it online, so instead of acting as the expert, I learned about the culture from the parents of children I was treating. Then I worked from their perspective.”

Today Hammer applies that approach in two federally funded projects. In one, she is developing the first tool for gauging literacy development in preschool-aged bilingual (English/Spanish) children. In the other, she is co-developing online training for parents of children with language disorders.

“Assessing preschoolers’ literacy development “would help us identify problems and intervene when we can really make a difference.” 

— Carol Scheffner Hammer, Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Why assess literacy in preschool, when children aren’t reading? Because that’s when kids develop an important precursor skill called phonological awareness — the ability to hear and manipulate words and parts of words.

“An assessment given at this age would help us identify problems and intervene when we can really make a difference,” says Hammer.

Teachers would use an app to show chil­dren groups of pictures and, for example, ask them (in both languages) to identify the image that rhymes with a particular word or sound. Each child’s score would be compared against norms that Hammer and her team are establish­ing through a study of 900 bilingual children.

“The norms will tell us where a child stands on a continuum and where to start intervention, if needed,” Hammer says.

The coaching program for parents of pre­schoolers with established language disorders also is aimed at predominantly low-income, minority families. Parents would learn language improvement techniques they can embed in children’s everyday activities through an app.

“I came to TC because our pro­gram is unique in its focus on diversity, bilingualism and multiculturalism,” Hammer says. “We do intervention research aimed at making a difference in people’s lives.”