WHY PRIME MATTERS
A common language for learning and instruction
What does it mean to “know how to cue”? Understanding the system, producing a message, understanding another cuer, and sustaining a conversation are connected skills. Describing each clearly helps us discuss what learners can do and what instruction should support next.
PRIME provides a shared structure for those conversations—across courses, independent learning, community practice, and emerging tools.
Describe learning clearly
Name the skills an activity develops and the progress a learner demonstrates.
Share instructional practices
Compare approaches using common terms and specific examples of learning
Connect resources and tools
Compare approaches using common terms and specific examples of learning
THE FIVE DOMAINS OF PRIME
PRODUCTION
Can I produce the message?
Develop clear cueing across words, connected sentences, and longer messages. Production includes handshape, placement and movement, visible mouth information, and coordination through transitions.
Practice example: Cue a short message, then review whether its intended information remains clear throughout.
RECEPTION
Can I understand the message?
Build understanding of visually presented cued language, from individual words to connected messages and different cuers.
Practice example: Watch a reviewed cued message before seeing its answer, then identify its meaning or key details.
INTERACTION
Can we sustain an exchange?
Use cueing in a responsive exchange. Interaction includes relevant responses, clarification, repair, and adapting to a partner's needs.
Practice example: Exchange information with a partner, ask for clarification when needed, and confirm shared understanding.
MONITORING
Can I check and extend my skills?
Recognize uncertainty, make useful adjustments, revisit learning over time, and apply skills to unfamiliar messages or partners.
Practice example: Compare an attempt with a reviewed model, choose one adjustment, retry, and revisit it later.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
Do I understand the system?
Understand how manual and mouth information work together, how cue selection relates to pronunciation, and what different learning activities can demonstrate.
Practice example: Explain why a handshape alone does not identify every intended phoneme, using reviewed examples.
Learners can begin producing, understanding, and interacting from the start. PRIME supports a connected profile of development rather than a fixed sequence of lessons.
PRIME IN PRACTICE
TURN BROAD GOALS INTO USEFUL NEXT STEPS
For Learners
"I can cue practiced words. My next goal is understanding familiar messages."
PRIME helps learners describe strengths and choose a focused practice goal.
Share instructional practices
"This lesson develops production. Where can we add reception and interaction?
PRIME helps instructors make learning objectives explicit and consider the range of practice offered.
Connect resources and tools
"This quiz checks essential knowledge. What activity will support producing a message?"
PRIME helps developers connect activities and feedback to the skills they address.
CONNECTING OUR WORK
A SHARED FOUNDATION FOR CONNECTED WORK
Cued Language Lab is developing PRIME to support shared terminology and open knowledge exchange in cueing. The framework gives our projects a common reference while leaving room for different teaching approaches, learner needs, and language-specific review.
Instruction and self-learning
Connect lessons, practice, and feedback to clearly described skills.
Shared terminology
Build a working glossary that makes discussions of cueing development easier to understand and compare.
Learning resources and technology
Guide the design of demonstrations, practice activities, self-checks, and progress displays.
Cued Practice Endorsement development
Provide relevant terminology and skill descriptions for the proposed endorsement, whose professional requirements and evidence are being developed separately.
HELP SHAPE PRIME
BRING YOUR EXPERIENCE TO THE FRAMEWORK
Instructors, learners, families, researchers, and developers bring different perspectives on how cueing skills develop. Cued Language Lab welcomes examples, questions, and focused feedback to help refine PRIME.
We are especially interested in:
-
Terms that need clearer definitions.
-
Learning needs or experiences the framework should address.
-
Practical examples of instruction, feedback, and skill development.