It was developed as a result of a collaboration between members of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech. This project began at the ICPLA conference in Stockholm, Sweden in 2014.
Here is the abstract:
Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to undertake assessments with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders (SSD), particularly children who speak languages that are not shared by their SLP. Method: The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech (IEPMCS), comprising 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a one-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing the paper, and 34 members contributed to revising the paper online (some members contributed to more than one task). Results: This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected SSD including: referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting. It addresses SLPs’ cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers, as well as organizational and government barriers and facilitators to culturally competent practice. Conclusions: The tutorial concludes with a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP’s assessment of a multilingual Cantonese- and English-speaking 4-year-old boy, where the issues raised in the tutorial are applied. Resources are included throughout the tutorial.
