When it comes to unnecessary speech referrals, we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the source of most of our referrals – the teachers. And we’re here to say that if teachers are not making great referrals, it probably isn’t their fault and there is a lot we can do about improving them.
That’s what this second-of-four installments about how to improve referrals covers. How can we effectively share information about communication disorders with teachers without making them feel like we are asking them to do a ton of work, or our jobs frankly?
Referrals are made with the best of intentions. Teachers can’t understand a child or their academic performance is suffering and they are seeking help.
If done correctly, a child gets help or a teacher knows that their concerns were valid but the student’s struggles are not related to communication.
When they are not needed, they can cost districts a lot of time and money. Unnecessary speech referrals also increase the work loads of speech-language pathologists and they often result in students being enrolled in special education services when they don’t really need them. The latter issue results from difficulty with assessment practices for multilingual students, which we’ll tackle in another post. For now, let’s focus on getting teachers good information.
If we can support teachers in making decisions about which bilingual students to refer, we can reduce unnecessary speech referrals, thereby saving a lot of people a lot of time. This also frees up special education funds for the students who have speech-language disorders and really need those services.
Everyone is Needing Information on Language Development
The first thing I want to say here is that people around the globe are struggling with how we best conduct speech-language assessments of multilingual students. We recently attended a conference in The Netherlands and listened to researchers from all over Europe (where most people speak at least two languages) talk about all of the ways they are exploring so they can better diagnose speech and language impairments in bilingual and multilingual children. Further, we work with school districts all over the United States on the issue of over-identification of bilingual students for special education services. So, you are not alone if you don’t feel super confident in this area.
There is a lot we do know though, and there are some pretty systematic ways that we can approach bilingual speech-language assessments. Even if you don’t feel completely confident in this process, we have some free tools for you to use so that you can build the confidence of your entire educational team in their understanding of bilingual speech and language development, which students from diverse backgrounds should be referred for speech-language evaluations, and which students may just need some support in acquiring their second language.
Speech-language pathologists don’t have loads of extra time to spend teaching all of the teachers they work with about bilingualism. Don’t worry! We created a slide deck that you can download from our website. It also has an accompanying script so you can get up and running quickly. You can either download the file as a pdf and use it as-is, or you can download the open source PowerPoint file and make whatever changes you see fit.
Just go to our Speech Referrals Page and scroll down to the bottom you will find the slides and script.
Downloadable Presentation To Help Teachers Know Which Students to Refer for a Presentation
Script for Should I Refer This Bilingual Student for a Speech-Language Evaluation
Recognizing Communication Challenges in Bilingual Students: When to Refer for Speech-Language Evaluation
Here is an overview of what the presentation covers. In case you are designing your own, we feel that these are the must-have components to hit all the different concerns that a room full of teachers may have.
- Defining Speech and Language
- Using Venn Diagrams to Compare Speech Sounds in Two Languages
- Examples using Venn Diagrams of Concerns and Normal Patterns
- Breaking Language Down into Content, Form and Use
- How to Use a Contrastive Analysis of Language to Understand Bilingual Patterns
Introduction:
This presentation is designed to guide teachers, speech-language pathologists, and ESL educators in understanding when a bilingual student might need a speech-language evaluation. The goal is to help educators differentiate between typical bilingual language patterns and actual language impairments, ensuring that culturally and linguistically diverse students receive appropriate support without unnecessary referrals to special education.
Section 1: The Importance of Appropriate Referrals
Research shows that children from diverse backgrounds are often over-identified for special education, leading to unnecessary placements. Educators should aim to distinguish between language differences due to bilingualism and actual language impairments, helping students receive suitable support to thrive in their learning environment.
Section 2: Understanding Language Influence and Impairment
To assess whether language patterns are influenced by a student’s native language or signify a language impairment, educators should consider factors like speech sounds and grammar unique to each language. This section offers a framework to determine the normal cross-linguistic influence versus signs of a possible impairment.
Section 3: Speech Sounds and Bilingual Influence
Using a Venn diagram to identify shared and unique sounds between a student’s two languages, this section helps educators recognize when speech variations are due to language influence rather than a disorder. It includes examples of common sounds in English and Spanish, as well as typical substitution patterns for other languages, emphasizing that these variations are often part of normal bilingual development.
Section 4: Case Studies and Practical Examples
Through specific case studies, educators can see examples of both typical bilingual speech development and cases warranting evaluation. These examples illustrate how to analyze bilingual students’ sound errors across languages and determine if intervention is needed, thus eliminated the need for unnecessary speech referrals.
Section 5: Applying the Process Across Languages
While Spanish is commonly encountered, this framework can be applied to other languages such as Vietnamese and Mandarin. Educators learn about sound distinctions in different languages, emphasizing the importance of understanding each student’s unique language background for accurate evaluation.
Section 6: Language Patterns and Structure
This section explores how syntax, morphology, and other language structures vary across languages. Educators learn to identify normal bilingual patterns, such as varied word order and unique plural markers, to avoid mistaking these for language disorders.
Section 7: Language Content and Vocabulary
In the semantic area of language, bilingual students often exhibit “cross-linguistic borrowing” or approximate meanings when they lack vocabulary in one language. This section offers insight into normal bilingual word learning, guiding teachers to recognize when vocabulary issues might stem from bilingual development rather than a language disorder.
Section 8: Pragmatics and Cultural Nuances
Cultural differences in social language, or pragmatics, are common among bilingual students. This section underscores the importance of cultural understanding, helping teachers recognize behavior that aligns with cultural norms rather than signaling a communication disorder.
Section 9: Practical Tools and Resources
Finally, the presentation highlights tools like the “Difference or Disorder” book, which provides valuable resources on language patterns across various languages. This section includes example slides covering linguistic nuances in languages like Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin, assisting educators in making informed referral decisions.
Conclusion: Working Together with Teachers Can Reduce Unnecessary Referrals
Educators play a critical role in providing equitable support for bilingual students. With a better understanding of bilingual language development, teachers and SLPs can work together to prevent unnecessary referrals and focus on meaningful support that fosters each student’s potential.
Call to Action:
For those interested in exploring this topic further, download the slides above to use as a comprehensive guide to help educators identifying communication challenges in bilingual students. And, check out the other essays in this series:
- Being involved in the referral process to help teachers collect good data
- Sharing our knowledge about bilingual development with our fellow educators (this post)
- Giving teachers the resources they need to gather meaningful data
- Getting quality information from parents
