Bilingual assessment practices: challenges faced by speech-language pathologists working with a predominantly bilingual population

Teoh, Wei Qin; Brebner, Christine; McAllister, Sue

doi:10.1080/2050571x.2017.1309788

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Second, the challenges of carrying out Irish language assessment, such as the extra time required, lack of experience in assessing languages other than English and lack of knowledge about the Irish language were cited by respondents. The challenges experienced by our respondents are similar to those cited in previous studies (D'Souza et al., 2012; Teoh et al., 2018) and may mean SLTs are reluctant to engage in Irish language assessment. Finally, the context in which children are acquiring Irish may also have an impact.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Assessment of minority language skills in English–Irish‐speaking bilingual children: A survey of SLT perspectives and current practices

Mulgrew

Duffy²,

Kennedy³

2021

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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Background: An increasing number of children in the UK and Ireland are growing up speaking more than one language. The many advantages of bilingualism are acknowledged however this increased linguistic diversity presents particular challenges for Speech and Language Therapists. The case is often more complex with speakers of minority languages such as Welsh and Irish which are acquired almost exclusively in bilingual contexts. Lack of appropriate standardised assessments for bilinguals is a key issue for Speech and Language Therapists internationally, however little is known about the practices, personal perspectives or wider challenges faced by SLTs in assessing minority language skills. We focus on SLTs working with English-Irish bilinguals across Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) where status, use and exposure to Irish differs significantly. Aims: To investigate the perceptions and practices of Speech and LanguageTherapists in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the assessment of bilingual English-Irish speaking children. Methods and procedures:A 33-item online survey was distributed to SLTs working with children in community settings in NI and the ROI.Outcomes and results: 181 SLTs completed the survey. The majority of respondents had bilingual English-Irish speaking children on their caseloads however, less than one-quarter had assessed Irish language skills. Responses What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThe status of the Irish language differs significantly between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, while English is the dominant language in both areas. This study provides the first exploration of current assessment practices for bilingual English-Irish speaking children as reported by SLTs across both regions. The challenges of assessing bilingual clients in many other countries are mirrored by SLTs in NI and the ROI. The majority of children acquiring Irish are doing so in a specific context, the immersion education setting; this raises uncertainty for SLTs around whether the definition of bilingualism actually applies. Despite clinicians and clients sharing the same majority language, the complexity of minority language assessment remains. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?SLTs require specific support and resources to help them meet the assessment needs of bilingual English-Irish speaking children. Ongoing education and training are required for clinicians and other professionals to facilitate understanding of the complexities surrounding bilingual speakers of minority languages and the application of best practice guidelines. A greater understanding of the context in which children are acquiring Irish and the impact this may have on their acquisition of English would further support clinicians in identifying Speech, Language and Communication Needs in this population.speech-language pathology services to support multilingual children. International

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Assessment of minority language skills in English–Irish‐speaking bilingual children: A survey of SLT perspectives and current practices

Mulgrew

Duffy²,

Kennedy³

2021

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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“…Another finding from this study was that SLPs with a higher proportion of children from CALD on their caseloads did not report less regular use of norm-referenced measures, despite these assessments being less suitable for this population of children (Caesar & Kohler, 2007). Similarly, although dynamic assessments can be suitable alternatives for children from CALD backgrounds (Teoh et al, 2017) these same SLPs were not more likely to regularly use dynamic assessments. The inappropriate use of norm-referenced measures with children from CALD backgrounds has been reported in previous surveys (Arias & Friberg, 2015;Caesar & Kohler, 2009;Teoh et al, 2017) and represents an area of child language assessment practice that requires significant change.…”

Section: Objective 1 Regularity Of Assessment Usementioning

confidence: 66%

“…Previous surveys of SLP assessment practice have been conducted, however these surveys focused on particular clinical populations, particular groups of SLPs or the use of a single type of assessment. For example, previous surveys have examined assessment for children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds or children with specific disabilities (Arias & Friberg, 2015;Caesar & Kohler, 2007Teoh et al, 2017;Watson & Pennington, 2015;Williams & McLeod, 2012). Other surveys have examined assessment practices of SLPs employed in schools in the United States of America (Beck, 1995;Caesar & Kohler, 2009;Fulcher-Rood et al, 2018;Wilson et al, 1991) or investigated SLPs use of a single type of assessment, such as norm-referenced measures or contextualized procedures such as "language sampling" (Betz et al, 2013;Huang et al, 1997;Kemp & Klee, 1997;Ogiela & Montzka, 2020;Westerveld & Claessen, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have identified that SLPs tend to rely on peers or workshops rather than journal articles for information on assessment practice (Beck, 1995;Wilson et al, 1991). Other surveys focusing on assessment of children from CALD backgrounds and SLPs use of a contextualized assessment (e.g., language sampling) identified that SLPs experience challenges related to limited time, resources and training (Arias & Friberg, 2015;Guiberson & Atkins, 2012;Kemp & Klee, 1997;Pavelko et al, 2016;Teoh et al, 2017;Westerveld & Claessen, 2014). Only one older study has examined the challenges experienced by SLPs in different work agencies (Huang et al, 1997).…”

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confidence: 99%

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What Influences Speech-Language Pathologists' Use of Different Types of Language Assessments for Elementary School–Age Children?

Denman

Cordier

Kim

et al. 2021

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Purpose This study reports on data from a survey of speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) language assessment practices for elementary school–age children. The objective was to investigate the regularity with which SLPs use different types of assessments (described across data types, task types, environmental contexts, and dynamic features). This study also investigated factors that influence assessment practice, the main sources from which SLPs obtain information on language assessment and the main challenges reported by SLPs in relation to language assessment. Method A web-based survey was used to collect information from 407 Australian SLPs regarding the types of assessments they use. Factors that influenced the regularity with which different types of assessments were used were investigated using regression analysis. Results Most SLPs regularly used assessments that are norm-referenced, decontextualized, and conducted in a clinical context and less regularly used other types of assessments. Service agency, Australian state, and SLPs' years of experience were found to influence the regularity with which some types of assessments were used. Informal discussions with colleagues were the most frequently identified source of information on assessment practice. Main challenges related to limited time, lack of assessment materials, and lack of confidence in assessing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Conclusions SLPs could improve current language assessment practice for elementary school–age children through more regular use of some types of assessments. Actions to facilitate evidence-based assessment practice should consider the contextual differences that exist between service agencies and states and address challenges that SLPs experience in relation to language assessment. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14378948

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“…Für viele Sprachen und sprachliche Bereiche fehlen Diagnostikverfahren. Zudem sind häufig auf Seiten der Untersuchungsleitung Kenntnisse in den betreffenden Nichtumgebungssprachen erforderlich (Teoh, Brebner & McAllister, 2018).…”

unclassified

Einbezug von Alter und Sprachkontaktdauer in die Wortschatzdiagnostik bei Mehrsprachigkeit

Ehl

Grosche

2020

Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psycho

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Zusammenfassung. Für die expressive Wortschatzdiagnostik mehrsprachiger Kinder im Grundschulalter fehlen Auswertungsansätze, die die heterogenen Bedingungen des Mehrspracherwerbs berücksichtigen. Solche Auswertungsansätze werden im Bildungs- und Gesundheitswesen gebraucht, um eine bessere Orientierung zu erhalten, welche mehrsprachigen Kinder sprachlich besonders auffällig sind. Die vorliegende Studie prüft, ob das Alter der Kinder und deren Kontaktdauer zur Umgebungssprache als Bestandteile mehrspracherwerbssensibler Normen für Wortschatzleistungen in der Umgebungssprache in Betracht kommen. Bei einer Stichprobe von 451 mehrsprachigen Grundschulkindern hatten das Alter und die Kontaktdauer einen bedeutsamen Einfluss auf den Wortschatz in der Umgebungssprache. Darüber hinaus zeigten sich differentielle Zusammenhänge. Kinder mit kürzerer Kontaktdauer unterschieden sich im Wortschatz stärker von Kindern, die z. B. ein Jahr älter und ein Kontaktjahr weiter fortgeschritten waren, als Kindern mit längerer Kontaktdauer. Insgesamt weisen die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass die Entwicklung von mehrspracherwerbssensiblen Normen die Identifikation von sprachlich besonders auffälligen Kindern verbessern könnte.

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Bilingual assessment practices: challenges faced by speech-language pathologists working with a predominantly bilingual population

Cited by 26 publications

References 40 publications

Assessment of minority language skills in English–Irish‐speaking bilingual children: A survey of SLT perspectives and current practices

Assessment of minority language skills in English–Irish‐speaking bilingual children: A survey of SLT perspectives and current practices

What Influences Speech-Language Pathologists' Use of Different Types of Language Assessments for Elementary School–Age Children?

Einbezug von Alter und Sprachkontaktdauer in die Wortschatzdiagnostik bei Mehrsprachigkeit

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