Exploring How Speech-Language Pathologists Recall Changing Demographics and Assessment Practices Related to Multicultural and Multilingual Children: A Retrospective Study
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Authors
Millsap, Nadia
Issue Date
2024-08-01
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Dissertations, Academic--United States , Speech therapy , Special education , Language and languages—Study and teaching , Educational tests and measurements , Demographic surveys , Multicultural education , Multilingualism , Language disorders—Diagnosis , Speech disorders—Diagnosis
Alternative Title
Abstract
In 2023, immigrants and their United States born offspring accounted for approximately 90.8 million individuals (27%) of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population (Batalova, 2024). Compared to 2010, this is a rise of about 14.7 million (20%). As the global population becomes more diverse, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) face the challenge of working with families representing various cultural and linguistic origins. The accurate diagnosis of speech and language impairments in multilingual children presents a significant clinical challenge for SLPs in the United States, where linguistic variety and communication difficulties are common (Kohnert & Medina, 2009). SLPs must refrain from using universal assessment methods, as members of cultural groups have cultural and individual identities. Appropriately assessing multilingual and multicultural children is a top priority for SLPs, and this study highlights the change in caseload demographics and the extent to which clinicians practice incorporating identified best practice methods into their evaluation methods over time. Data were gathered through an online survey of school-based SLPs in the United States. The responses of 457 individuals were included. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution. Chi-square analysis and a paired sample t-test were used to compare responses. Results indicate that most SLPs and student teams continue to use English-only measures during multilingual assessments. In addition, years of experience were not significant in the use of English-only standardized assessments. Reports suggest that SLPs and student teams continue to use English-only standardized assessments often. Collaboration was the only identified assessment practice that demonstrated an increase in experience. The investigation identified the need for clinicians to enhance their practice by adopting and improving their evaluation methods through continuous implementation of best practices when assessing students from diverse backgrounds.
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.