Measuring Stuttering in Preschool-Aged Children across Different Languages: An International Study

Abstract

Background/Aims: Many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are working in linguistically diverse communities and have to identify and measure stuttering in a language other than their own. The aim of the present study was to extend our understanding of how well SLPs can measure stuttering in other languages and to encourage collaboration between SLPs across cultures. Methods: Speech samples consisted of seven preschool-aged children each speaking one of the following languages: Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, and Persian (Farsi). The judges were classified in seven groups of SLPs (n = 170) each speaking one of the seven languages of the children and two more English-speaking groups. Each judge rated the severity of stuttering in each child using a 10-point scale. The study was conducted over the Internet. Results: Overall, the judges' proficiency in a child's language was not systematically related to the variability and agreement of the severity ratings, accounting for maximally 4.6% of the variance. Conclusion: SLPs should not be overly concerned about the appropriateness of their severity ratings if they feel less proficient in the native language of the stuttering children. It may also be encouraging for beginning clinicians that the severity ratings were not systematically related to professional experience.

Use of Monolingual English Guidelines to Assess Stuttering in Bilingual Speakers:

“…Watson, Byrd, & Carlo 2011). Further research indicates that clinicians can identify stuttering severity in speakers of more than one language with high levels of accuracy, even when they are unfamiliar with the languages the speakers' are producing (Bosshardt, Packman, Blomgren, & Kretschmann, 2016;Cosyns, Einarsdottir, & Van Borsel, 2015;Hoffman, Wilson, Copley, Hewatt, & Lim, 2014;Lee, Robb, Ormond, & Blomgren, 2014). Discriminating whether disfluencies are typical or atypical in multilingual speakers who do stutter versus those who do not may prove to be more challenging than previously thought, particularly if the speech-language pathologist is using the monolingual English-speaking guidelines to guide their diagnostic decision.…”