California State University East Bay (CSUEB), opened in 1959 with 300 students on one campus. Since then, it has grown to serve over 14,000 students on three campuses. The motto of our university is “Per Aspera Ad Astra”, or “Through Adversity to the Stars”. This is an apt motto given that our university is the most racially and ethnically diverse campus in the continental United States (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2014), and 61% of our undergraduate students are the first in their families to earn a college degree (Office of Institutional Research, personal communication, March 9, 2015). Our students are also highly diverse in terms of age, ability status, parenting experience, immigration background, sexual orientation, gender, religion, and much more. Though the diversity of our campus provides ample opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to be exposed to multiple perspectives, we have learned that intentional efforts are required to build an inclusive, accessible, and responsive community. This article describes strategies we have employed over the past five years across three broad areas: (a) support for student learning, engagement, and retention; (b) professional development; and (c) policies around inclusion and access. Preliminary evaluation of these efforts suggests that we have made significant progress in building an inclusive campus that supports student learning, respects all members of the campus community, and facilitates our continuing engagement in this work.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people, 5 years of age and older speaking a language other than English at home has more than doubled within the last three decades. Spanish speakers are prominent in these numbers. Additionally, 41% report speaking English less than “very well.” We can surmise from this data that a significant number of patients/families seeking hearing health services from audiologists may have limited English proficiency or a language barrier. In contrast, according to ASHA demographics, the majority of audiologists in the United States are monolingual and speak primarily English.Audiology, a discipline with communication at its heart, is in a distinctive position to continue to provide high-quality, accessible, culturally sensitive services, regardless of language barriers. Ten audiologists in northern NJ volunteered to try a real time translation mobile app (Google Translate App) and document their experiences with the use of this tool with their Spanish-speaking patients/families. Results suggest that a mobile translation app may be a viable option to address language barriers in the audiology practice when professional and/or ad-hoc interpreters are not available. Technology driven solutions can then be applied to customize the translation apps to the specific needs of the audiology practice (e.g., vernacular used in adult vs. pediatric populations, or vestibular vs. rehabilitation terminology). Healthcare literacy is also addressed in the content of patient education and cultural competence.
The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), adopted by 46 states, are being widely implemented in our schools. A major concern for educators and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) is that English language learners (ELLs), especially those from low-socioeconomic status (low SES) backgrounds, are at risk for not satisfactorily achieving the standards—particularly in English Language Arts. This risk is magnified for low SES ELLs with language impairment. This article describes (a) the overall goals of the standards, (b) specific risk factors for low SES ELLs with language impairment (“at risk” students), (c) the basic nature of the English Language Arts standards, and (d) practical strategies for SLPs to support at-risk students' performance in English Language Arts. There is a particular focus on “Monday morning” strategies for increasing these students' ability to read and comprehend expository text. This can be accomplished specifically through strengthening underlying vocabulary and morphological awareness skills. Practical intervention ideas are provided.
An increasing number of children in preschools and schools around the country are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and speak multiple languages. However, clinicians are often challenged in conducting least-biased assessments of bilingual children, which often results in over-referral or under- referral of these children to special education and related services. Utilizing naturalistic and authentic assessment of child language such as language sampling is a recommended approach to augment traditional assessments in clinical settings. The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) technology offers clinicians a time-and cost effective means to gathering representative language samples across home and school environments to help determine the presence of speech-language impairment in young bilingual children. We describe an exploratory study using the LENA with five Spanish-English bilingual children to identify the accuracy of traditionally transcribed child word counts as compared to the automated child vocalization analyses obtained through the LENA. Results indicate the need for more research to fully explore the clinical utility of this technology for assessment of bilingual children.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, over 20% of Americans speak a language other than English in the home, with Spanish, Chinese, and French being the languages most commonly spoken, aside from English. However, few augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems offer multilingual support for individuals with limited functional speech. There has been much discussion in the AAC community about best practices in AAC system design and intervention strategies, but limited resources exist to help us provide robust, flexible systems for users who speak languages other than English. We must provide services that take into consideration the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse users of AAC and help them reach their full communication potential. This article outlines basic guidelines for best practices in AAC design and selection, and presents practical applications of these best practices to multilingual/multicultural clients.
Introduction Bilingualism is the norm worldwide. Despite the fact that nearly one in five individuals (17.9%; U.S. Census Bureau, 2007) speaks another language other than English in the home, knowledge regarding the nature of bilingualism and school performance, particularly vocabulary skills in bilingual children, is still needed. Purpose This study investigated vocabulary skills of bilingual, Spanish-English speaking students enrolled in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Methods Fifteen Spanish-English speaking students were administered English and Spanish receptive and expressive vocabulary measures. Total conceptual vocabulary scores were also obtained for both the English and Spanish measures. Results Results indicated significant differences for 3rd and 5th grade groups on the Spanish expressive vocabulary measure and also on the expressive total conceptual vocabulary measure. Conclusions The bilingual students, although the majority had been mainstreamed and exited from ESOL classes and services, appeared to be still acquiring English vocabulary skills and may have not attained complete cognitive academic English language proficiencies. Therefore, it is possible that incomplete vocabulary skills may affect overall academic language skills and overall academic performance. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) must strive to maintain native language skills that facilitate reading comprehension and English academic success.
Bilingual speakers rely on attentional and executive control to continuously inhibit or activate linguistic representations of competing languages, which leads to an increased efficiency known as “bilingual advantage”. Both monolingual and bilingual speakers were asked to perform multiple tasks of talking on a cell phone while simultaneously attending to simulated driving events. This study examined the effect of bilingualism on participants' performance during a dual-task experiment based on 20 monolingual and 13 bilingual healthy adults. The within-subject and between-subject comparisons were conducted on reaction times of a visual event detection task for (a) only driving and (b) driving while simultaneously engaged in a phone conversation. Results of this study showed that bilingual speakers performed significantly faster than monolingual speakers during the multitasking condition, but not during the driving only condition. Further, bilingual speakers consistently showed a bilingual advantage in reaction times during the multitasking condition, despite varying degrees on a bilingual dominance scale. Overall, experiences in more than one language yield bilingual advantage in better performance than monolingual speakers during a multitasking condition, but not during a single task condition. Regardless of the difference in bilingual proficiency level, such language experience reveals a positive impact on bilingual speakers for multitasking.
What does it mean to have true cultural competence as an speech-language pathologist (SLP)? In some areas of practice it may be enough to develop a perspective that values the expectations and identity of our clients and see them as partners in the therapeutic process. But when clinicians are asked to distinguish a language difference from a language disorder, cultural sensitivity is not enough. Rather, in these cases, cultural competence requires knowledge and skills in gathering data about a student's cultural and linguistic background and analyzing the student's language samples from that perspective. This article describes one American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)-accredited graduate program in speech-language pathology and its approach to putting students on the path to becoming culturally competent SLPs, including challenges faced along the way. At Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) the program infuses knowledge of bilingualism and multiculturalism throughout the curriculum and offers bilingual students the opportunity to receive New York State certification as bilingual clinicians. Graduate students must demonstrate a deep understanding of the grammar of Standard American English and other varieties of English particularly those spoken in and around New York City. Two recent graduates of this graduate program contribute their perspectives on continuing to develop cultural competence while working with diverse students in New York City public schools.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are obligated to judiciously select and administer appropriate assessments without inherent cultural or linguistic bias (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004). Nevertheless, clinicians continue to struggle with appropriate assessment practices for bilingual children, and diagnostic decisions are too often based on standardized tests that were normed predominately on monolingual English speakers (Caesar & Kohler, 2007). Dynamic assessment is intended to be a valid and unbiased approach for ascertaining what a child knows and can do, yet many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) struggle in knowing what and how to assess within this paradigm. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a clinical scenario and summarize extant research on effective dynamic language assessment practices, with a focus on specific language tasks and procedures, in order to foster SLPs' confidence in their use of dynamic assessment with bilingual children.
No AccessPerspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in ChildhoodCoordinator’s Column1 Apr 2015Coordinator's Column Aparna Rao Aparna Rao Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.1044/hhdc25.1.3 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In "Coordinator's Column." Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood, 25(1), p. 3 Additional Resources FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 25 Issue 1 April 2015 Pages: 3-3 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in issue: Apr 1, 2015 Metrics Topicsasha-topicsasha-sigsasha-article-typesCopyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2015 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationPDF downloadLoading ...
Promoting cultural competence in serving diverse clients has become critically important across disciplines. Yet, progress has been limited in raising awareness and sensitivity. Tervalon and Murray-Garcia (1998) believed that cultural competence can only be truly achieved through critical self-assessment, recognition of limits, and ongoing acquisition of knowledge (known as “cultural humility”). Teaching cultural humility, and the value associated with it remains a challenging task for many educators. Challenges inherent in such instruction stem from lack of resources/known strategies as well as learner and instructor readiness. Kirk (2007) further indicates that providing feedback on one's integrity could be threatening. In current study, both traditional classroom-based teaching pedagogy and hands-on community engagement were reviewed. To bridge a gap between academic teaching/learning and real world situations, the author proposed service learning as a means to teach cultural humility and empower students with confidence in serving clients from culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds. To provide a class of 51 students with multicultural and multilingual community service experience, the author partnered with the Tzu-Chi Foundation (an international nonprofit organization). In this article, the results, strengths, and limitations of this service learning project are discussed.
The majority of children who are culturally and linguistically diverse in the United States read below grade level. This disproportionate prevalence of reading difficulty is likely due to language-related factors. Although most of these children do not have language impairment, they do need explicit instruction in the use and comprehension of complex, academically-related language that is expected in public schools. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are particularly well suited to help guide this needed explicit language instruction and help implement language progress monitoring. In this clinical tutorial, we propose ways in which narrative assessment and intervention within a response to intervention framework can be carefully aligned and realistically carried out. We propose that narrative assessment and narrative intervention should become standard practice in schools to monitor language growth and provide explicit language instruction to students.
The purpose of this article is to report the perceptions and experiences of family members of five African-American clients with aphasia as they accessed speech-language pathology services. Client or family responses to a survey and during a semi-structured, ethnographic interview revealed information on barriers and facilitators influencing access to speech therapy services. These data are part of a larger investigation into cultural and linguistic barriers that might influence racial and/or ethnic minority clients’ awareness of, access to, and utilization of speech-language pathology services. Results reveal the presence of distinct barriers and facilitators that can influence timely, sustained access to speech-language pathology services for African-American clients and their families. These data have critical implications for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), audiologists, and all healthcare providers.
No AccessPerspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) PopulationsArticle1 Apr 2014Grammaticality of Preschoolers in Narratives: Considering the Influences of Bilingualism and Daycare Participation: A Retrospective and Exploratory Study Maria Resendiz, Rachel Henrich, Celeste Domsch and Elizabeth Belasco Maria Resendiz Department of Communication Disorders, Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX Google Scholar More articles by this author , Rachel Henrich Student, Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX Bilingual Language Accquisition Bunch LabSan Antonio, TX Google Scholar More articles by this author , Celeste Domsch Department of Communication Disorders, Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX Google Scholar More articles by this author and Elizabeth Belasco Department of Communication Disorders, Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.1044/cds21.1.22 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Purpose: The current retrospective and exploratory study aimed to identify the role of language experience for monolingual and bilingual preschool age children who did and did not attend daycare on the production of grammatical utterances during a narrative task. Method: Eighty-eight preschool age children (M=4; 10, SD=4 months), a subset of children from a larger study (Resendiz, in preparation), participated in the current study. Parent interviews were completed to obtain background information about each child (Gutierrez-Clellen & Kreiter, 2003). Each child produced narratives using wordless picture books in the language of their choice. Five children produced a narrative in both English and Spanish; for these children we used their higher grammaticality score. Narratives were transcribed and each utterance was coded as grammatical or ungrammatical. Results: There were no significant differences between children who were bilingual and children who were monolingual. There were also no significant differences between children who attended daycare and those who did not. Conclusion: Coming from a bilingual background did not hinder children's performance in the area of grammaticality. Participation in daycare did not influence children's use of grammatical language. While there are other documented benefits of daycare participation, grammaticality is not an affected area of language. References Ansari, A., & Winsler, A. (2012). Stability and sequence of center-based and family childcare: Links with low income children's school readiness.Children and Youth Services Review, 35(2), 358–366. Google Scholar Bedore, L. M., Peña, E. D., Gillam, R. B., & Ho, T. (2010). Language sample measures and language ability in Spanish-English bilingual kindergarteners.Journal of Communication Disorders, 43, 498–510. CrossrefGoogle Scholar Beller, S. (2008) Fostering language acquisition in daycare Settings: What does research tell us? Working paper No. 49. 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(2000).Child Development, 71, 960–980. Google Scholar Resendiz, M. (in preparation). Changes in narrative language by preschool age children with typically developing language, at risk for language impairment, and language impairment after participation in tier 2 of RTI. Google Scholar Restrepo, M. A. (1998). Identifiers of predominantly Spanish-speaking children with language impairment.Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 1398–1411. LinkGoogle Scholar Rhyner, P. M. (2007). An analysis of caregivers' language during book sharing with toddler age children.Communication Disorders Quarterly, 28, 167–178. Google Scholar Shulman, M. D., & Liles, B. Z. (1979). A sense of grammaticality: An ingredient for language remediation.Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 10, 59–63. Google Scholar Simon-Cereijido, G., & Gutierrez-Clellen, V. F. (2007). Spontaneous language markers of Spanish language impairment.Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 317–339. 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Child care resources handbook.Retrieved from http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/worklife/reference-materials/child-care-resources-handbook/ Google Scholar Additional Resources FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 21Issue 1April 2014Pages: 22-32 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in issue: Apr 1, 2014 Metrics Downloaded 43 times Topicsasha-topicsasha-sigsasha-article-typesCopyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2014 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationPDF DownloadLoading ...
No AccessPerspectives on Language Learning and EducationCoordinator’s Column1 Mar 2014From the Coordinator LaVae M. Hoffman LaVae M. Hoffman Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.1044/lle21.2.40 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In "From the Coordinator." Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, 21(2), pp. 40–41 Additional Resources FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 21Issue 2March 2014Pages: 40-41 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in issue: Mar 1, 2014 Metrics Topicsasha-topicsasha-sigsasha-article-typesleader-topicsCopyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2014 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationPDF downloadLoading ...
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) around the world are likely to provide clinical services to Turkish speaking people with communication disorders. Most non-Turkish SLPs are not fluent in Turkish as a second language to serve bilingual or minority clients. This paper introduces the reader to basic information about the Turkish language and culture, followed by considerations for clinicians working with Turkish-speaking clients and their families.
Tube feeding is a common intervention considered in the care of older adults. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the current literature on the relationship between cultural factors and tube feeding in older adults, to help prepare speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to consider these cultural factors in communicating with their patients and families who may be faced with a tube feeding decision. Although evidence indicates that this intervention lacks benefit in advanced dementia, the decision to provide tube feeding can be complicated and challenging. SLPs are often consulted to provide assistance in the evaluation of an older adult with eating and feeding problems, and have an important role in tube feeding decision-making. SLPs and the healthcare teams they work with need to be aware of regional, national, international, ethnic, cultural, and institutional differences in tube feeding decision-making and utilization. SLPs and their healthcare teams need culturally sensitive communication and assessment skills to gently elicit and address cultural influences in this decision.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the Persian language of Iran while embedding it in the larger context of Persian culture and Iranian-Americans. It will provide the practicing speech-language pathologist's (SLPs) basic information about the linguistic structure of Persian, as spoken by Iranian-Americans to facilitate the provision of a culturally and linguistically appropriate evaluation of Persian heritage language speakers living in the United States. According to the language use data collected by the United States Census Bureau of the 67 Indo-European languages spoken in U.S. homes, Persian ranked 9th above Greek, Urdu, and Gujarathi (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.). This is a surprising fact given the dearth of published research on Heritage speakers of Persian learning English and living in the United States. This phenomenon may partly be a consequence of the fact that the majority of Iranians value education and literacy and report high proficiency in English. Nevertheless, the potential risk that Iranian-Americans may be over- or under- identified may be greater than for other minority groups in the US due to the lack of information readily available to clinicians.
Working with multilingual children requires knowledge of their home/heritage culture and language(s), norms for development of these languages in monolingual and multilingual settings, and access to assessments and clinical resources. In the case of Arabic, all three requirements are normally missing due to the paucity of research on language development in Arabic. In the face of a steady increase in the Arab-American population and limited related linguistic and cultural knowledge, Arab-Americans run the same risk of over- and under-identification of language impairment as do many minority groups in the United States. This paper aims to provide foundational knowledge of the diversity of the Arab culture and language(s), and of the prevalence of multilingualism in the Arab world. We also present some background on the Arab population in the United States, while highlighting potential vulnerable areas of service delivery. A brief account of some of the main linguistic features of Levantine Arabic (LA) is then provided, followed by implications for language interaction in the perception and production patterns of heritage language speakers. We hope that this paper will enhance speech-language pathologists (SLPs') ability to implement best practices in bilingual assessment when working with children from a Levantine background and to raise their awareness of implicit bias.
