Management of Communication Problems in Bilingual Children

The Training and Use of Interpreters in Bilingual Psycho-Educational Assessment: an Alternative in Need of Study

“…Third, interpreters should be trained on the importance of ethical conduct (Medina, 1982). The importance of confidentiality (Chamberlain & MederiosLandurand, 1991;Medina, 1982) and interpreting only in cases and/or situations in which they have both training and background (Chamberlain & Mederios-Landurand, 1991;Medina, 1982;Miller & Abudarham, 1984) should be stressed. Caveats of using interpreters.…”

“…First, interpreters need to understand the many facets and components relating to the assessment process (Medina, 1982). These include (a) the referral system (Scribner, 1993); (b) legal matters (Medina, 1982); (c) rights of parents and students being evaluated (Scribner, 1993); (d) technical testing jargon (Medina, 1982;Miller & Abudarham, 1984;Scribner, 1993); and (e) the special education system (Scribner, 1993). Second, interpreters should evidence an understanding of factors related to the children with whom they work.…”

“…The Need for Research Pertaining to Interpreters Although various guidelines have been formulated for the use of translators (Chamberlain & Medeiros-Landurand, 1991;Fradd & Wilen, 1990;Medina, 1982;Miller & Abudarham, 1984;Scribner, 1993;Wilen & Sweeting, 1986) and for the skills needed by school psychologists to work with interpreters (Figueroa, et al, 1984), the case remains, however, that &dquo;there is no empirically validated model for training or using an interpreter&dquo; (Figueroa, 1989, p. 19 as quoted in Kamphaus, 1993, pp. 458-459).…”

Clinical Intervention for Bilingual Children: An International Survey

“…Of these, 12 have trained interpreters available while the others (n = 17) reportedly used parents, siblings or the client to interpret during the sessions. According to Miller and Abudarham [20] , suitable speechlanguage interpreters must fulfill a number of principal requirements, which include mastery of both the languages, as well as the ability to transmit exactly what the therapist has requested. Furthermore, the interpreter should be willing to maintain a neutral role in order not to dominate the session.…”

Clinical Implications of Childhood Bilingualism

“…According to Miller (1984a:183), the initial aim of therapy should be to develop communicative abilities in keeping with mental age in at least one of the client's languages. Miller and Abudarham (1984) agree, stating that it is advisable that the clinician concentrate on one language at a time. Based on their research results 26 , Perozzi and Sanchez (1992:350, 351) state that this "one language" should be the client's first language.…”