Checklist for Identification of Speech Language Disorders in Bilingual and Multicultural Children

This checklist was created to assist Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) and Teachers in the decision-making process of how to appropriately identify bilingual/multicultural children who present with speech-language delay/deficits (vs. a language difference), for the purpose of initiating a formal speech-language-literacy evaluation.  The goal is to ensure that educational professionals are appropriately identifying bilingual children for assessment and service provision due to legitimate speech language deficits/concerns, and are not over-identifying students because they speak multiple languages or because they come from low socioeconomic backgrounds.  It is very important to understand that true language impairment in bilingual children will be evident in both languages from early childhood onwards, and thus will adversely affect the learning of both languages.

Checklist Content:

• Page 1 Title
• Page 2-3: Research Summary on Bilingualism 
  • Research on simultaneous dual language learning & language delay
  • Universal Developmental Milestones
  • Translanguaging
  • How Children Learn a Second Language
    • Additive Bilingualism
    • Subtractive Bilingualism
    • Advantages of Bilingualism
    • Disadvantages of Losing a Language
    • Sequential Bilingualism
• Pages 4  Directions and Free Resources for Assessment of Speech, Language, and Literacy
• Pages 5-7 Checklist
• Pages 8-9 Helpful Smart Speech Therapy Materials

Checklist Areas

1. AT RISK FAMILY HISTORY
2. AT RISK DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY
3. BEHAVIORAL MANIFESTATIONS 
4. DIFFERENTIAL DETERMINATION
   1. Cognition
   2. Phonology
   3. L1 Deficits (Birth/First Language)
   4. L2 Deficits (English)