Bilingual Language Development
Xu Fang is a 7-year-old girl in an all-English-speaking second-grade classroom. Xu's parents emigrated from mainland China 8 years ago; Xu was born in the United States. She came to an all-English kindergarten speaking only Mandarin; kindergarten was her first exposure to English on a regular basis. She had no prior preschool experience in either Mandarin or English. The second-grade teacher has referred Xu for a speech-language evaluation because he says that, although she interacts well with her English-speaking classmates on the playground, she is "behind" her classmates in written language skills (e.g., spelling, reading). Xu definitely demonstrates a gap. Based on her background, you can state that
A. because BICS develop faster than CALP, Xu is probably developing in an appropriate manner, and at this time, evaluation for a possible language impairment is not necessary.
B. because Xu has been in an all-English-speaking classroom setting for at least 2 years, her CALP should be as well developed as her BICS. Her difficulties are a red flag, and a speech-language assessment should be conducted.
C. Xu's CALP should actually develop faster than her BICS, because Chinese parents are known to focus on academic skills at home; thus, her BICS-CALP gap is a red flag that she may have an underlying language impairment.
D. Xu's BICS-CALP gap may indicate a possible intellectual disability, and she should be evaluated by the school psychologist.
A. Because BICS develop faster than CALP, Xu is probably developing in an appropriate manner, and at this time, no evaluation for a possible language impairment is necessary.
A teacher has referred Isaiah Brown to you for an evaluation. Isaiah is a kindergartner who speaks African American English and is reportedly doing well in class academically. When you observe him on the playground with his peers, you see that he has many friends and does not appear to have problems interacting appropriately with other children. Isaiah's friends do not appear to have any difficulty understanding what he says. However, the teacher is concerned because, she says, "I think Isaiah pronounces some of his sounds wrong. I think he needs speech therapy." When you conduct a speech screening with Isaiah, you will remember: Which of the following is a typical variation of African American English and not a sign of a disorder?
A. v/f substitution in word-final position
B. Production of [æks] instead of [æsk]
C. w/r substitution in all word positions
D. Initial consonant deletion
B. Many typically developing speakers of African American English show metathesis in productions like [æks] instead of [æsk]. However, a w/r substitution is not common and probably indicates an articulation problem that is not related to the use of African American English. Typically developing African American students also do not make v/f substitutions or delete consonants in word-initial position.
Consuelo is a Mexican American, Spanish-speaking, 6-year-old first grader, who is in the process of learning English. Her parents emigrated from Mexico 3 years ago; thus, she was exposed first to Spanish at home and to English in kindergarten at the age of 5 years 3 months. Consuelo's mother tells you that during the summer before kindergarten, Consuelo attended an English-speaking preschool. The first-grade classroom teacher shares that she thinks Consuelo may have a speech sound disorder but is not sure. The teacher provides you with some examples of things Consuelo has said in the past few weeks. Some of these examples are due to interference or transfer from Spanish. As you look at the examples, which one of the following would not be based on interference from Spanish and thus atypical for her in terms of predictable productions based on Spanish influence?
A. t/th substitutions in word-initial positions (e.g., tin/thin)
B. Devoicing of final consonants (e.g., beece/bees)
C. v/f substitutions in word-initial and word-final positions (e.g., vine/fine, roove/roof)
D. j/d substitutions (e.g., yava/java)
C. v/f substitutions in word-initial and word-final positions (e.g., vine/fine, roove/roof) would not be typical for a Spanish-speaking 6-year-old girl who is in the process of learning English, in terms of predictable productions based on Spanish influence.
A test's ecological validity refers to the extent to which it reflects
A. the child's actual daily environment and life experience.
B. culture-fair assessment practices.
C. grade-level appropriate content.
D. procedures which have been proven nondiscriminatory for ELs.
A. A test's ecological validity refers to the extent to which it reflects the child's actual daily environment and life experience.
Mrs. Elizaga, a 70-year-old Filipino woman, has had a stroke. Her first and dominant language is Tagalog. She speaks some English. You do not speak Tagalog but know that you need to evaluate her Tagalog skills. As a culturally competent clinician, you will
A. evaluate her in English only; after all, she is in the United States and needs to be evaluated in our mainstream language.
B. ask a family member to come and gather a language sample in Tagalog and help you analyze it and figure out goals based on this sample.
C. ask the medical facility to provide you a certified, highly trained Tagalog interpreter to gather a case history and evaluate Mrs. Elizaga's Tagalog skills, following up with some English assessment as well.
D. have Mrs. Elizaga's family fill out a form indicating whether or not Tagalog or English is her dominant language and asking for their input on best assessment practices.
C. Because Tagalog is Mrs. Elizaga's dominant language, you should ask the medical facility to provide you a certified, highly trained Tagalog interpreter to gather a case history and evaluate her Tagalog skills. Because she speaks some English, you can follow up with some English assessment.
Tristan, a monolingual English-speaking speech-language pathologist, is working in a Head Start in a city with many EL children. In the last year, EL children from over 15 cultural and linguistic groups have come to the Head Start speaking only their primary languages. Tristan's ideal plan for dealing with the needs of these children is to
A. encourage them not to speak their primary languages and to speak English as much and as quickly as possible.
B. tolerate the children's use of their primary languages and speak to them solely in English, hoping that they will eventually "pick up" English and discontinue using their primary languages.
C. hire bilingual aides from the neighboring communities and use their services to help the children maintain their primary languages and learn English, also.
D. assume that these children probably have language impairments in their primary languages and hire bilingual speech-language pathologists to assist in their primary languages remediation.
C. It would be ideal to hire bilingual aides from the neighboring communities and use them to help the children maintain their primary languages and learn English also. Research shows that with children, it is best to maintain and nurture their primary languages and also introduce English so that they (ideally) eventually become proficient bilingual speakers.
In an adolescent speaker of African American English, which of the following utterances would be an example of the use of the perfective construction, with been used to indicate an action that took place in the distant past?
A. "I been had a marble collection when I was 7."
B. "Our family been gonna do it?"
C. "I might been coulda done it"
D. "He been done it again"
A. In an adolescent speaker of African American English, the utterance "I been had a marble collection when I was 7" would be an example of the use of the perfective construction with been, indicating an action that took place in the distant past.
A high school teacher refers a Japanese-speaking 10th grader, Kosuke, to you for an evaluation. Kosuke and his family have been in the United States for 2 years; the father was brought to the United States for a 3-year computer project in a major American city. The family will be returning to Japan next year. Kosuke's teacher says that, although he is doing well academically, he is "hard to understand sometimes." She says that the other students don't make fun of Kosuke, but they don't always seem to follow what he is saying. The teacher wonders if he could benefit from intervention for an "articulation disorder." You conduct a screening. Which one of the following articulatory-phonological characteristics would NOT be predictable based on Kosuke's first language of Japanese?
A. substitution of a/æ (e.g., sock/sack, fong/fang)
B. Final-consonant deletion (e.g., be-/bed, po-/pot)
C. r/l confusion (e.g., laise/raise, clown/crown)
D. d/t substitution (e.g., din/tin)
D. Predictable utterances for a Japanese-speaking 10th grader, based on his primary language of Japanese, would be substitutions of a/æ (e.g., sock/sack, fong/fang), final consonant deletion (e.g., be-/bed, po-/pot), and r/l confusion (e.g., laise/raise, clown/crown). However, a d/t substitution would not be typical for a Japanese speaker.
You are a new clinician, considering using a new test with an EL student. You are asking questions like "What theory was used in the test's creation?" "Is any theory mentioned?" or "Is it appropriate for this particular student?" You are questioning the test's
A. concurrent validity.
B. reliability.
C. construct validity.
D. theoretical reliability.
C. When you are asking questions like "What theory was used in the test's creation?" "Is any theory mentioned?" or "Is it appropriate for this particular student?" you are questioning the test's construct validity.
Mr. Nehru is a man from India who has had a stroke and now has aphasia. His family reports that before the stroke, he spoke both Hindi and English fluently. In planning for therapy, you, as a monolingual English-speaking speech-language pathologist, think about the possibility of incorporating work on English idioms. Which one of the following is NOT a consideration in terms of whether to make comprehension and expression of English idioms a treatment goal?
A. Mr. Nehru's oral and written abilities in both English and Hindi
B. Your own interest in English idioms and whether you consider them important in therapy for a stroke patient
C. Whether Mr. Nehru will return to his work setting, where his colleagues speak English, or spend all of his time at home, where his family speaks primarily Hindi
D. Mr. Nehru's educational and vocational history
B. You need to consider Mr. Nehru's Hindi and English oral and written abilities, as well as whether he will return to his work setting, where his colleagues speak English, or spend all of his time at home, where his family speaks primarily Hindi. Your own preferences as a monolingual English-speaking speech-language pathologist are irrelevant to Mr. Nehru's needs and individual situation.
You are working in a school district where there is an influx of immigrants from Russia. These immigrants have come to your area because there are Russian churches that have sponsored them. In the last few years, over 50,000 Russian families have moved in. Teachers are beginning to refer some Russian students to you for assessment for language impairment, saying that the students are "not learning English fast enough." You consult with the pastor of a local Russian church, Pastor Soldantenkov, who is highly regarded in his community, and share with him the stories of some of the students who have been referred to you. As he listens, Pastor Soldantenkov tells you that many families in his church had difficulty leaving Russia and, though they now live in the United States, want to limit their interactions with Americans as much as possible. Many parents wish to "preserve the Russian language and culture" and want to limit their children's exposure to English and American culture in general. Which of the following can you not conclude about the Russian students referred to you based on your conversation with Pastor Soldantenkov?
A. It is possible that instead of having language impairments, these students are typical language learners who have had limited assimilation into American mainstream society.
B. The families of these students who have been referred to you are bicultural, and this is part of the problem that the students are having in school.
C. The families of these students have limited acculturation into American life, and this factor may be influencing the students' performance in school.
D. The reluctance of the families to assimilate into American culture might be a factor that is influencing the students' interaction with other students who are native speakers of English, and this may be related to the Russian students' learning English more slowly.
B. You cannot assume this because immigrants who are bicultural are fully involved in both their own and the host culture. They maintain their native language and become fluent in the new language, too. They maintain many of their own cultural practices and adopt the host culture's practices, as well. They are comfortable going back and forth between their own and the host culture.
You observe a Spanish-speaking child on the school playground. The teacher is concerned about Manuela's language skills, and you are starting by general observations in regular school settings. You hear Manuela speaking with her friends and saying things like "Yulie (Julie) has a shirt red," and "I want to estart playing with duh tederball (tetherball)." You are observing evidence of
A. a clinically significant speech sound disorder.
B. a clinically significant language disorder.
C. clinically significant speech and language disorders.
D. transfer from Spanish.
D. If a Spanish-speaking child says things like "Yulie (Julie) has a shirt red," and "I want to estart playing with duh tederball (tetherball)," these are signs of transfer from Spanish, not a clinically significant speech or language disorder.
You have been asked to evaluate the skills of Asal, a Dari-speaking third grader whose family immigrated from Afghanistan. She has been exposed to English in the United States for 2 years in American schools. Dari is Asal's dominant language at this time, though she has learned some English. The classroom teacher, Bret, shares his concerns that Asal "doesn't talk much and she has few friends. She is having some trouble with classroom routines." You decide to administer questionnaires to relevant adults in Asal's life: her teacher Bret, her parents, and the interpreter who works with her. The purpose of these questionnaires is to evaluate Asal's language use in daily communication contexts in her life (e.g., classroom, home, playground). You also decide to observe Asal interacting in various daily settings and have a Dari-speaking interpreter collect a language sample in Dari. Your assessment best represents ______ validity.
A. ecological
B. construct
C. concurrent
D. generalized
A. Your assessment best reflects ecological validity because you are evaluating Asal's language use in her natural daily environments.
A fifth-grade teacher refers Mia to you. Mia speaks Tongalese. She and her family have been living in the United States for 3 years, and Mia has been enrolled in U.S. schools for that whole time. However, she has been sick a great deal and missed many days of school. The family is most helpful, and Mia's parents do their best to do assignments with her at home. However, their conversational English is limited, and they do not read or write in English at all. When you talk to the teacher, he states that Mia has friends and gets along well in the classroom, but she especially struggles in the area of reading. The school team meets and decides to utilize an RtI (response to intervention) approach to discern whether Mia has a language and experiential difference or a language impairment. In the RtI model
A. Mia's teacher will implement the use of scientifically based instruction in the regular education setting to provide her with additional reading support; if this is insufficient to improve her performance, the special education team will evaluate her for possible special education services.
B. Mia will automatically undergo an extensive special education evaluation that will determine her possible need for pull-out speech-language therapy and academic support from the resource specialist.
C. Mia will automatically undergo an extensive special education evaluation that will determine her possible need for placement in a self-contained special education classroom.
D. the classroom teacher will continue "business as usual," providing no extra or additional instruction and assessing whether Mia makes progress.
A. In the RtI model, Mia's teacher will implement the use of scientifically based instruction in the regular education setting to provide her with additional reading support; if this is insufficient to improve her performance, the special education team will evaluate her for possible special education services.
A teacher refers José E. to you for a speech-language evaluation. José, a Puerto Rican American second grader who speaks Spanish and English with equal fluency, transferred to your school district 3 months ago from another district in your state. In his previous district, he was in a bilingual classroom where his primary language of Spanish was maintained and he was exposed to English, also. According to his report card from the previous district, "José does well speaking both Spanish and English. I [the teacher] think he is beginning to show a preference for English. José is performing adequately in all academic areas." The second-grade teacher at your school, who teaches only in English, feels that after 3 months in her classroom, "José is catching on slowly. I wonder if he needs special education." Your best course of action would be to
A. ask José's parents to sign a permission form so that he may be assessed immediately in English using only English tests, since English is apparently beginning to be his preferred language.
B. use a variety of English screening instruments to screen José's English ability because these instruments are ecologically valid for him.
C. do nothing at the present time and tell the teacher that you will wait for 6 months to see how José progresses in his classroom.
D. use a dynamic assessment model to evaluate José's language-learning ability and combine this with classroom observations over the next 2-3 months to evaluate his progress.
D. Use a dynamic assessment model to evaluate José's language-learning ability and combine this with classroom observations over the next 2-3 months to evaluate his progress. Assessing José in English only is not valid, and English screening instruments are not ecologically valid for him. It would be best to assess his ability to learn language and to observe him in the classroom for the next few months to see whether he progresses appropriately. If he does not, then the bilingual speech-language pathologist can undertake a formal evaluation of his Spanish and English skills.
Which one of the following is a predictable production for speakers of Asian languages as a result of language interference (transfer)?
A. "He be to bed going now."
B. "I see cat the little"
C. "Yesterday she cook a pot of soup."
D. "We no not be drivin' over there."
C. "Yesterday she cook a pot of soup" would be a predictable utterance for a speaker of most Asian languages. The other utterances would not be predictable based on the influence of any Asian language.
Which one of the following is not true, according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004?
A. Testing must be administered in a way that is not racially or culturally discriminatory.
B. Testing and evaluation materials must be provided and administered in the language or other mode of communication in which the child is most proficient unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
C. Testing must be administered to a bilingual child so as to reflect accurately the child's ability in the area tested, rather than reflecting limited English-language skill.
D. Mandatory consent in the primary language is always required.
D. This statement, "mandatory consent in the primary language is always required" is not true; it is not part of the IDEA 2004.
A 74-year-old bilingual Asian American man has had a stroke, and you are seeing him for therapy. He is recovering both his primary language and his English skills, but you are working only in English. There are no interpreters available, unfortunately, and the family has indicated that they would prefer treatment to be conducted in English anyway, since many of the patient's grandchildren speak English fluently. Which one of the following productions would be an example, on the patient's part, of English influenced by his primary language and not the stroke?
A. "They coming over here now."
B. "I done got to eat breakfast now."
C. "She not have no dollar in her purse."
D. "We be havin' many fun."
A. A 74-year-old Asian man who has had a stroke and is receiving therapy in English could say, "They coming over here now" as an English utterance influenced by his primary language and not the stroke.
Rohini is a 6-year-old speaker of Telugu from India. Her family moved to the United States 6 months ago because her mother is a doctor and wanted expanded opportunities in the United States. Rohini speaks primarily Telugu and almost no English. Rohini is one of three children. Her mother confides that Rohini stands out from her two other siblings in that she "just didn't catch on to English" as fast as they did. She also shares that Rohini was slow to develop her language milestones in Telugu, not speaking her first word in Telugu until she was 2 years old. You are a monolingual English-speaking SLP and know that given the "red flags" from the mother's description, you need to do a thorough evaluation to ascertain whether or not Rohini has a language disorder or just a language difference that will resolve with time. However, you do not speak Telugu. What is the best choice in this situation?
A. Not test Rohini at all; wait and see if time will make a difference.
B. Obtain the services of a trained interpreter and have him or her evaluate Rohini in Telugu.
C. Administer standardized tests in English because, after all, Rohini needs to succeed in American schools.
D. Have Rohini's mother fill out a detailed case history form and use the results to guide your decision.
B. Obtain the services of a trained interpreter and have him or her evaluate Rohini in Telugu. It is not ethical to do nothing at all, because there are some definite "red flags." But it is illegal to only administer standardized tests in English. It is best to utilize the services of a trained Telugu-speaking interpreter to evaluate Rohini in her first language.
A classroom teacher refers a 9-year-old African American male student to you because she is concerned about his intelligibility. This teacher is anxious to avoid the mistake of mislabeling this student as having a "speech disorder" if he is merely manifesting characteristics of African American English (AAE). When you screen the boy, you find that he makes the following substitutions: d/m, f/n, and m/n. You would
A. let the classroom teacher work with the student because this is such a mild problem.
B. do nothing, knowing that boys mature more slowly than girls.
C. do nothing, realizing that this is normal for speakers of African American English.
D. treat the student, because this is a sign of a speech sound disorder involving substitutions of other sounds for nasals.
D. The listed substitutions are not commonly found in speakers of African American English, so this student has a disorder involving substitutions of other sounds for nasals.
A teacher has referred a third-grade boy to you for a speech-language assessment. She is concerned because she feels that he is academically "behind his peers." He and his family are Cambodian refugees who speak Khmer, and they have been in the United States for 8 months. Because the boy has been in refugee camps most of his life, his schooling in Cambodia was quite limited. His parents tell you that they estimate that he has had approximately 1½ years of schooling in Cambodia. The teacher is concerned that the boy may have an underlying language impairment, and she wonders if he is eligible for speech-language services. What would be the best combination of assessment techniques to use with him?
A. Dynamic assessment, language samples in Khmer, and observations of his interaction with family members and other Cambodian children
B. Use of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition and the Test of Language Development-Primary: Fourth Edition, translated into Khmer; dynamic assessment; and language samples in Khmer
C. Use of a district-developed test for Cambodian students in your geographic area and administration of questionnaires to the boy's teachers and family
D. Use of formal standardized tests in English combined with observations of the boy's interactions, in Khmer, with peers and family members
A. Practices that are discouraged in evaluating ELL children include translated English tests and the use of formal standardized tests administered in English. It would be ideal to use dynamic assessment, language samples in Khmer, and observations of interactions with family members and other Cambodian children.