Condition: English Language Learners / Bilingual

Please note:  In this instance, the term “condition” is NOT being used to indicate a disorder or problem, but rather a specific state of being.  Children who are learning more than one language are not considered to have disorders unless they are struggling to acquire language in all languages to the degree that it qualifies for a language disorder.

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Norms by Age                     Evaluation                       Suggested Goals                         Therapy

Definition:

Educators use a number of terms when referring to English-language learners, including English learners (or ELs), limited English proficient (LEP) students, non-native English speakers, language-minority students, dual language learners, and either bilingual students or emerging bilingual students. The proliferation of terms, some of which may be used synonymously and some of which may not, can create confusion. For example, the term English-language learner is often used interchangeably with limited English proficient student, but some school districts and states may define the terms differently for distinct classifications of students. Nonetheless, the federal government and many state governments have acknowledged that both terms refer to the same group of students—those with limited proficiency in English. When investigating or reporting on English-language learners, it is important to determine precisely how the term, or a related term, is being defined in a specific educational context. In some cases, for example, the terms are used in a general sense, while in others they may be used in an official or technical sense to describe students with specific linguistic needs who receive specialized educational services.

Source: https://www.edglossary.org/english-language-learner/ 

Developmental Norms:

Bilingual children are not more likely than monolingual children to have difficulties with language, to show delays in learning, or to be diagnosed with a language disorder (see ). Parents’ perceptions are often otherwise—they feel that their child is behind due to their bilingualism—revealing an interesting disconnect from scientific findings. Science has revealed an important property of early bilingual children’s language knowledge that might explain this misperception: while bilingual children typically know fewer words in each of their languages than do monolingual learners of those languages, this apparent difference disappears when you calculate bilingual children’s “conceptual vocabulary” across both languages (). That is, if you add together known words in each language, and then make sure you don’t double-count cross-language synonyms (e.g., dog and perro), then bilingual children know approximately the same number of words as monolingual children ().

Bilingual children with specific language impairments (), Down syndrome (), and autism spectrum disorders () are not more likely to experience additional delays or challenges compared to monolingual children with these impairments.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168212/ 

Evaluation:

From ASHA: 

“Bilingual clinicians who have the necessary clinical expertise to treat the client may not always be available. There are circumstances in which a clinician who does not have native or near-native proficiency in the target language is able to use the skills he or she does have to provide services to a client. In determining the appropriateness of this solution, the clinician considers both his or her own language proficiency in the target language and the language demands of the client and family.

When a bilingual speech-language pathologist (SLP) and/or audiologist is not available, using an interpreter is a viable option. For additional information related to working with interpreters in spoken and manually coded languages, please see the Practice Portal page on Collaborating With Interpreters.

As indicated in the Code of Ethics, audiologists and SLPs are obligated to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to their clients and patients, regardless of the clinician’s personal culture, practice setting, or caseload demographics. In providing services to bilingual individuals, SLPs consider how communication disorders or differences might be manifested, identified, or described in the client’s/patient’s cultural and linguistic community and integrate this knowledge into all areas of practice, including assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and treatment discharge.

Source: https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/bilingual-service-delivery/#collapse_1 

Here are our resources for evaluating children who are English Language Learners or bilingual:

Assessment and Treatment for English Language Learners – Webinar Recording

This is an hour-long recording of a past webinar that we did with our friends over at Bilinguistics.  Includes information on both treatment and assessment for this population.

Assessing English Language Learners for Communication Disorders

This 11-minute video provides a brief overview of things to consider when evaluating English Language Learners

Suggested Goals:

The results of the assessment process should help guide what you will target in therapy.  You will want to choose goals that are specific to the areas of language impairment that were discovered as a result of your evaluation.  You can click on one of the language areas below to learn more.  Or, scroll down to the therapy section for more in-depth resources and support for treating children with this condition.

Expressive Language Delay

For children who have delays or disorders in the production of language to communicate to others.

Receptive Language Delay

For children who have delays or disorders in understanding language that is spoken/communicated to them.

Social Communication Delay

For children who have delays or disorders in social communication or interactions.

Therapy:

Here are some more resources and information that may help you when it comes to treating this condition.

Advice for Children Living in Bilingual Homes

Answers to questions like, “will living in a bilingual home cause a language delay” and “should children with language impairments only hear English”

Emerging Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners

Tips for beginning to work on literacy with a child who is learning English as their non-native language.

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Resources, Tools, and Training for Speech-Language Professionals

*** The SLP Solution is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide medical or psychological advice.  We provide general resources but cannot tell you exactly what should be done for a specific client.  Every client is different and your clinical judgement should be used when making decisions about specific individuals.

 

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