Introduction
English Language Learners (ELLs) are individuals who speak a different native language other than English. As these children enter school for the first time, they are often screened for English proficiency. For speech-language pathologists (SLPs), a student is identified as an ELL if they are stronger in their native language than in English. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in Fall of 2020, over 10% of elementary school students (roughly 5 million) were ELLs. Urban school districts had a higher percentage of ELLs, and over three quarters of them were native Spanish speakers. According to the South Carolina federal guidelines, schools are mandated to have a translator available for ELL students. Documents including handouts and progress reports are required to be translated into the student’s native language. For SLPs, a translator is necessary to limit any communication breakdowns, and they should collaborate with the students’ families to educate them and answer any questions about the therapeutic process. SLPs are required to provide all information in the student’s and family’s native language. Furthermore, the clinician must be aware of the language differences in English vs the student’s native language to limit the possibility of misdiagnosis. Currently, there is limited available research on SLPs who work with ELLs. Guiberson and Atkins (2010) found that only half of the SLPs interviewed stated they were competent in assessing and treating multilingual students, which highlights the importance of utilizing professionals such as interpreters to facilitate clinical decision-making.
My Perspective
As a novice SLP who only speaks English working in my rural hometown, I was initially apprehensive about working with ELLs. Although I had almost four years of working as an SLP assistant, I had never worked with an ELL student. I did take a few Spanish courses, but I was far removed from those days. My school district had limited resources, interpreters, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOLs) teachers and professional development opportunities to better serve ELLs. These limitations existed although we served a highly multi-ethnic society with many ELL migrants. The circumstances caused me to feel unprepared, as I was not confident in assessing and treating ELL students and effectively communicating with them and their families. Nevertheless, I suddenly had a caseload in which 14% of my students were ELL Spanish-speakers. There were countless times when I would try to talk to them without an interpreter, with very limited success. I had to decipher what I would do to evaluate and provide intervention services to them effectively and ethically.
Santhanam and Parveen’s findings (2018) demonstrated that I was not alone. They found that a vast majority of SLPs in the US are monolingual, often serving clients who speak a language or belong to a culture different from their own. Furthermore, SLPs often do not receive highly pertinent background information such as primary language, culture, and home environment prior to the first visit. To learn from others, I decided to have a conversation with the district’s interpreter and ESOL teacher to find out the ELL students’ families perceptions about collaborating with professionals who only speak English and how that can impact the student. I also wanted to know what I could do to improve my collaboration and therapeutic practices for my ELL students to ensure they are being provided the same quality of services as my monolingual students.
Barriers and Solutions
Based on my conversation with the district interpreter and ESOL teacher, I identified four common barriers to monolingual providers providing services to ELL students, along with ethical and culturally sensitive solutions to address each of those barriers.
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Addressing Families’ Fears of Children Losing their Native Language. My colleagues noted that the families of ELL students fear that their child would lose their native language if it were not taught at school. This is a common misconception, as learning both languages simultaneously during childhood aids in the development of communication skills and academic success (Brice & Brice, 2007), as well as emotional, practical, educational, and cultural benefits (Abbas, 2018). My solution was to proactively educate students’ families that learning two languages improves cognitive function and communication development. So far, these conversations have been productive and has alleviated any hesitations I have had with working with their child. It is useful to share phonetic inventory milestones in various languages from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website with family members, to keep them informed and empowered as well.
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Creating an Environment Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion. It is essential for SLPs to continuously develop their cultural competence, as their caseloads become increasingly diverse. My colleagues shared with me that ELL students tend to feel isolated from their peers due to language and cultural barriers. Brice and Brice (2007) indicated that bilingual students’ difficulties socializing with peers and educators places them at risk for failing to succeed in cooperative learning situations in the classroom. My solution was to learn the basics of my students’ and their families’ native language and culture to cultivate their trust in me. I also found that incorporating music, foods, games, books, and other materials in their native language improved their attention, motivation, and progress in speech therapy. It also helps their peers in the group therapy sessions to inclusively accept their language and culture as well by learning more about languages and cultures different from their own.
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SLPs Learning from Reliable Sources of Knowledge. The interpreter and ESOL teacher indicated that SLPs and teachers feared addressing language barriers between them and their ELL students due to their misconceptions about ELL students’ ability levels, such misconceptions that result in misdiagnoses. Fabiano-Smith (2018) found that Latino children are four times more likely to be identified as having a speech disorder than their white, English-speaking peers. My solution was to accept that even though I might not be proficient in another language such as Spanish, my responsibility is to better understand that language and not rely on translation apps that are not reliable sources for quality translation (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, n.d.).
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Utilizing Certified Translators. Finally, my colleagues mentioned that families heavily rely on the interpreter/ESOL teacher, even though they are not always accessible. The families are also hesitant to read English-language resources and materials, as they assume that they will not be able to decipher any of its content. Although having sufficient certified translator staff to serve ELL parents and students is a federal requirement, many school districts instead rely on another parent or non-certified educator to translate information. The solution to this barrier is to always use a certified translator when necessary to help bridge that gap of communication, both in face-to-face communication as well as written material such as handouts, homework, and plan of cares, which should be translated into the family’s native language.
The figure below depicts the four main observations discussed.
Conclusion
As a new SLP, I gained a considerable amount of knowledge by meeting with the interpreter and ESOL teacher at my school district to better serve my ELL students. SLPs have a duty to continuously develop their cultural competence by learning from reliable sources as well as communicating effectively with colleagues, families and the students themselves to develop a trusting relationship that facilitates the therapy and promotes a sense of belonging and inclusion in our increasingly diverse student population. A lack of understanding of students’ differences can result in misdiagnoses and inequitable long-term outcomes. My main goal as a clinician is to ensure that access and the quality of speech and language therapy services are equitable to all who use them, regardless of English proficiency, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other such factors. Future directions for research and practice include more in-depth observations of SLPs service delivery when working with ELLs in the school system and assessing the preparation of SLP students to work with ELLs by examining their curriculum, knowledge of the population and assessments available, and practice.