Diagnosing speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children: Are English-only assessments sufficient?

Research output: Book chapter/Published conference paperChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

Multilingual children suspected of having speech sound disorders (SSD) are often only assessed in English due to challenges facing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) such as inadequate resources, lack of access to multilingual SLPs or interpreters, and limited SLP knowledge and skill in assessing unfamiliar languages. This paper describes the speech profiles and diagnostic decision-making for four bilingual Vietnamese-English speaking children aged 4–6 years. When using English-only assessment all children were diagnosed with SSD. When assessed in English and Vietnamese, only two children were diagnosed with SSD. Many mismatches could be explained by cross-linguistic transfer and ambient phonology. These different diagnostic outcomes demonstrate that direct speech assessment in home language(s) and English is essential for accurate diagnosis of SSD in multilingual children.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMultilingual acquisition and learning
Subtitle of host publicationAn ecosystemic view to diversity
EditorsElena Babatsouli
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter8
Pages217-245
Number of pages28
ISBN (Electronic)9789027247025
ISBN (Print)9789027214690
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Publication series

NameStudies in Bilingualism
Volume67
ISSN (Print)0928-1533

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