Tutorial: Speech Assessment for Multilingual Children Who Do Not Speak the Same Language(s) as the Speech-Language Pathologist

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP.MethodThe tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed to more than 1 task).ResultsThis tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP's cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice.ConclusionThe issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP's assessment of a multilingual Cantonese- and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial.

Language History Questionnaire (LHQ3): An enhanced tool for assessing multilingual experience

“…The validity and reliability of the LHQ questions have been tested by many previous studies that correlated LHQ results with other behavioral tests and outcomes of bilingual experience (Bidelman, Gandour & Krishnan, 2011;Bidelman, Hutka & Moreno, 2013;Calvo, Garcia, Manoiloff & Ibáñez, 2016;Carlson, Goldrick, Blasingame & Fink, 2016;Dong & Zhong, 2017, Chandrasekaran, Krishnan & Gandour, 2009Hartanto & Yang, 2016;Jonczyk, Boutonnet, Musial, Hoemann & Thierry, 2016;McLeod & Verdon, 2017;Yang, Gates, Molenaar & Li, 2015). For example, in Grant and Li (2019), bilingual participants' verbal fluency scores in Spanish were significantly correlated with their LHQ-based self-rated proficiency scores ( p = .039, r = .36).…”

Intervention for bilingual speech sound disorders: A case study of an isiXhosa–English-speaking child

“…Although this is gradually changing to reflect a more diverse demographic, there is often a language mismatch between SLT and client (Pascoe & Norman, 2011 ). Globally, this is also a common problem as discussed in a tutorial article by McLeod et al ( 2017 ) entitled ‘Speech assessment for multilingual children who do not speak the same language(s) as the speech language pathologist’. Around the world, SLTs face further challenges in providing appropriate intervention for children who are multilingual, as there is limited research on the appropriate approach for intervention for this population (Goldstein & Fabiano, 2007 ).…”

“…This has been documented across a range of language pairs by authors, including Holm, Dodd, Stow and Pert ( 1997 ), Holm and Dodd ( 1999a , 1999b , 2001 ) and Ray ( 2002 ). Where a child presents with speech errors in only one language, this may be indicative of cross-linguistic transfer rather than a speech sound disorder (McLeod, Verdon & International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech, 2017 ). For example, a child who speaks both English and French may not be able to produce the fricative [θ] in English and substitutes it with the plosive [t], as it is not present in French.…”

“…If this use of the phonological process of stopping is only present in English, it is not necessarily caused by a speech sound disorder, but rather by cross-linguistic transfer from French to English. This highlights the importance of a speech language therapist (SLT) being able to identify whether a bilingual child presents with a speech sound disorder or difference (McLeod et al, 2017 ). A child acquiring two or more languages may present with differences in their speech that are not true errors but rather are caused by the typical acquisition of two languages or dialects (McLeod, 2012 ).…”

“…A child acquiring two or more languages may present with differences in their speech that are not true errors but rather are caused by the typical acquisition of two languages or dialects (McLeod, 2012 ). This, too, must be differentiated from a child who presents with a true phonological disorder or delay (McLeod et al, 2017 ). In order to do this, knowledge of the typical development of bilingual children acquiring various language pairs is essential.…”