Speech-Language Pathologists’
Importance in Early Childhood
Special Education: Creating
Supportive Learning Environments
for Young Children with Disabilities
– Part 2
Jane E. Minnema, Ph.D.
St Cloud State University
Office Telephone: 308-3969
jeminnema@stcloudstate.edu
Introductions for Part 2
 Who I am … and where I’ve been
 Who you are … and where you’ve been
 Cross-cultural teaching + research for the
past 12 years
 Jane’s approach to adult learning
Why Am I Here Today?
Care passionately about the
developmental and learning outcomes
for all young children!
Carry professional concern for young
dual or multiple language learners
And now, personal concern for biracial children
Ok … I’ll stop!!!
Session Outcomes – Part 2
What I hope for:
I. Understanding EBP per ASHA and
DEC
II. Pondering current research findings
for dual or multiple language learners
 What
I wish I knew when teaching!
III. The importance of SLPs for setting
the ECSE learning environments!
Evidence-Based Practices:
Mandates!
“The law says teachers must use
evidence-based teaching practices (EBPs)
to ensure their students receive the
highest quality instruction.” (NCLB, 2002)
EBP and high quality teaching go hand-in hand!
Proven teaching techniques help students
make more progress in shorter amounts of time.
A winning combination when these practices
are added to teachers’ professional skills and
knowledge of their students.
ASHA and EBP
The goal of EBP is the integration of:
(a) clinical expertise,
(b) best current evidence, and
(c) client or patient perspectives
to provide high-quality services
reflecting the interests, values,
needs, and choices of the
individuals we serve.
ASHA’s EBP
Conceptualization
Conceptually, the trilateral principles
forming the bases for EBP can be
represented through a simple figure:
Current Best Evidence
EBP
Clinical Expertise
Client/Patient Values
ECSE and EBP
What is evidenced-based practice?
… A decision-making process that
integrates the best available
research evidence with family and
professional wisdom and values.”
(Buysse & Wesley, 2006; Snyder,
2006; Winton, 2006)
Chronological Development of
EBP in ECSE
Odom (2002) – Defining by blending
research with practical and family
wisdom
Odom & Strain (2002) – Validated
research that supports DEC
Recommended Practices
2002 forward – Professional debate
ensued to the present
Adding to the SLP-EBP
Perspective
EBP is more than journal articles!
IEP more than a document!!
If considered as a process:
Professional now partnered w/ family
Removes our “expertness”
Child- and family-focused decisions
What Does ECSE-EBP Suggest?
Specific word “current” implications:
Avoids the “old” isolated table top
therapy approach
But, tried and true intervention principles
still apply – especially for dual language
learners
Specific word “best” implications:
Does imply our “expertness”
Educational team needs “ground
leveling”
Evidence-Based Practice: Wanted,
Needed, and Hard to Get
“While the law requires teachers to use
evidence-based practices in their
classrooms, the field has not yet
determined criteria for evidence
based practice nor whether special
education has a solid foundation of
evidence-based practices. Also, those
teaching strategies that have been
researched are difficult for teachers to
access.”
CEC, June 8, 2008
Our Task Today: Making EBP a
Reality!
“While this seems pretty straightforward,
the difficulty lies in making the concept
a reality.”
(CEC, 6-8-08)
EBP for Dual Language
Learners
Splintered Discussion Remains
in the Literature
How much evidence for practice credibility?
Which research methods garner scientific
evidence best?
How do teachers access EBPs?
Does research trust teachers to use the
methods correctly?
Do teachers trust researchers to understand
classroom demands?
How can teachers meld EBPs and the craft
of teaching?
Why are SLPs really
important to the ECSE
learning environment?
I. Blending ASHA + DEC definitions of
Evidence-based Practice
I. Pair Share … or Multiple
Share!
How is this “blended” definition of
EBP differ what you are currently
doing in practice?
How can you change your current
practice to better accommodate this
new understanding of EBP?
Why are SLPs really
important to the ECSE
learning environment?
II. Embedding normal dual language
development into dialogic reading
I will actually be presenting …
… a case for bilingualism!
Reasons to support a child’s
native language
Given the global economy and
increasing diversity in our country there
is actually a great demand for fully
proficient bilinguals. Why should we
not support this capacity in native
speakers? (Portes & Hao, 1998; Valdes, 1997)
Why is it desirable for native English speakers
(primarily upper and middle SES) to learn a second
language, but native speakers of a minority
language (primarily low SES) are pressured into
learning and maintain English only?
Social Reasons To Support a
Child’s Native Language
The child will be surrounded with
English speakers and will quickly
recognize English as the language with
higher status and power in this society.
The greatest likelihood is actually
that immigrant children will discontinue
using their native language
(Portes & Hao, 1998).
Social Reasons to support a child’s
native language
The child must be able to
communicate with his/her family and
community so that he/she does not
become socially isolated. Maintaining
strong native language skills will allow
parents to communicate affection,
discipline and teach cultural values
(Wong-Fillmore, 1991).
Research evidence to answer the question
“English-only or native language
support?”
Based on a convergence of evidence it is
recognized that supporting a child’s native
language early on and specifically
developing early literacy skills in a child’s
native language better supports later
academic outcomes in English.
(August & Shanahan, 2006; Christian, 1996;
Cummins, 1979; Oller & Eilers, 2002;
Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005; Thomas
& Collier, 2002; + many more)
So, having said this …
The question is not whether all U.S.
children should learn English.
The question is how can this best be
achieved?
Let’s return to the SLP in the ECSE
learning environment.
How do dual language learners learn
English?
First, understand terms:
Simultaneous: Two languages
acquired from birth
Sequential: No consensus in the
field, ideas range from the
introduction of the second language
at the age of one month to 3 years.
(deHouwer, 1990; Genesee, Paradis, Crago, 2004;
MacLaughlin, 1984)
More Terms:
Additive bilingualism: “Situations
where both languages are supported
and languages develop in parallel.”
Subtractive bilingualism: “Situations
characterized by a gradual loss of the
first language as a result of increasing
mastery and use of the second
language.”
(Diaz & Klingler, 1999; Genesee, Paradis, & Crago, 2004)
More terms:
Code-mixing that follows
grammatical rules is not evidence of
language confusion, but has been
found to be directly proportional to the
rate of language mixing in the child’s
environment.
e.g. “Spanglish” (Lanza, 1992; Petitto
et al., 2001)
Research evidence provided by samples of
young simultaneous bilinguals:
Young (middle class) bilingual
children who acquire two languages
from birth reach linguistic milestones
at the same age as their monolingual
peers. We need to look at BOTH
of their languages when assessing.
(Bedore, Peña, Garcia, Cortez, 2005; Genesee,
2001; Holowka et al., 2002; Petitto, 2001)
More research findings …
Young bilinguals demonstrate
interlocutor sensitivity indicating that
they are aware of which language to
use with different people.
(Maneva & Genesee, 2002; Petitto et al., 2001)
More research results:
An abundance of translation
equivalents have been documented in
young bilingual children
demonstrating that young children
recognize that they need different
words for the same concept in
different contexts.
(Genesee, 2001; Holowka et al., 2002; Pearson,
Fernández, & Oller, 1995; Petitto, 2001)
Challenging Common Myths:
Dual Language Learners
Linda M. Espinosa
FOUNDATION for CHILD DEVELOPMENT
FCD Policy Brief
Advancing PK-3
No. Eight
January 2008
 http://www.fcdus.org/sites/default/files/MythsOfTeachingELLsEspin
osa.pdf
Interactive Responses … T/F?
MYTH 1: Learning two languages
during the early childhood years will
overwhelm, confuse, and/or delay a
child’s acquisition of English.
Challenging Common Myths About Young English Language
Learners, Linda M. Espinosa, FOUNDATION for CHILD
DEVELOPMENT, FCD Policy Brief, Advancing PK-3,
No. Eight, January 2008.
Research-based Response
Young children learning two languages also have more neural
activity in the parts of the brain associated with language
processing. This increased brain activity and neural density
may have long-term positive effects on specific types of
cognitive abilities, such as those that require focusing on the
details of a task and knowing how language is structured and
used. These studies have also demonstrated that knowing
more than one language does not delay the acquisition of
English or impede academic achievement in English when
both languages are supported.
Research on children who learn English after their home
language has been established — usually around age three
— has also shown that most young children are capable of
adding a second language during the PK-3 years and that
this dual language ability confers long-term cognitive,
cultural, and economic advantages.
Interactive Responses … T/F?
MYTH 2: Total English immersion
from Prekindergarten through Third
Grade is the best way for a young
English Language Learner to acquire
English.
Research-based Response
Research on the effects of early English immersion
programs for ELL students contradicts this belief. The
evidence suggests that children in these preschool programs
tend to lose their ability to communicate in their first
language, start to prefer the English language, frequently
develop communication problems with their extended
families, and experience depressed academic achievement
in English.
Systematic, deliberate exposure to English during early
childhood combined with ongoing opportunities to learn
important concepts in the home language results in the
highest achievement in both the home language and English
by the end of Third Grade and beyond.
Interactive Responses … T/F?
MYTH 3: Because schools don’t have
the capacity to provide instruction in
all of the languages represented by
the children, they should provide
English-only instruction.
Research-based Response
It is clear that in order to thrive academically, socially, and
cognitively, young ELL children need systematic support for
their home language while they are acquiring English. Even
when teachers do not speak the child’ s first language, there
are many specific teaching practices that will support native
language development.
Teachers and ancillary staff can support children’ s home
language throughout the day in all kinds of learning
situations; they also can train parents, community members,
and volunteers to work with ELL children in their home
language. Ideally, educators will provide home language
support through the elementary grades.
Interactive Responses … T/F?
MYTH 4: Native English speakers will
experience academic and language
delays if they are enrolled in dual
language programs.
Research-based Response
Recent evaluations show that the dual language approach is
effective for both ELL students and for native English
speakers. Dual language programs educate all children in
two languages. The goal is to promote bilingualism and
biculturalism for all students. In these classrooms, all
students experience the benefits and challenges associated
with learning a second language during the early childhood
years as well as the richness of being introduced to many
cultures and social customs.
The dual language approach is one of the few instructional
methods that can fully close the achievement gap for ELL
students while not adversely affecting non-ELL students. All
students seem to benefit, as measured by standardized
achievement testing and positive reports from parents,
teachers, and administrators.
Interactive Responses … T/F?
MYTH 5: Spanish-speaking Latinos
show social as well as academic
delays when entering Kindergarten.
Research-based Response
The academic achievement gap for young Latino ELLs is
significant at Kindergarten entry and persists throughout the
school years. In a large national study, low-income Hispanic
children scored more than half a standard deviation below
the national average in math and reading achievement at
Kindergarten entry.
These achievement disparities persist as children who are
not native English speakers continue to have substantially
lower levels of educational achievement, including high
school completion and college enrollment rates, than their
peers from English-only backgrounds.
Although these academic discrepancies are well
documented and well known among the educational
community, almost no attention has been paid to the social
competencies of young ELL children.
Interactive Responses … T/F?
Lastly, MYTH 6: Latino English
language learners are less likely to be
enrolled in Prekindergarten programs,
because of their families’ cultural
values.
Research-based Response
Research documents that Latino families enroll their children in early
educational programs at much lower rates than their African- American,
White, and Asian counterparts. Close to half of children in California ages
three to five across all racial/ethnic groups are enrolled in preschool/child
care (47 percent), while only 37 percent of Latino children ages three to five
are similarly enrolled. When Latino preschoolers live in a household where
no one over the age of 14 speaks English fluently (linguistically isolated),
the enrollment rate drops to 32 percent. In contrast, about 50 percent of
Asian children in California attend preschool/child care irrespective of the
ability of people over the age of 14 to speak English fluently. The
conventional wisdom holds that this low attendance for Latino children,
despite the well-known benefits of high-quality early education, is based on
their families’ cultural values and beliefs. Because the Latino culture has a
strong emphasis on “la familia” and tends to turn to the family for economic
and instrumental support, many have inferred that Spanish-speaking
mothers choose to keep their young children in the home rather than
enrolling them in early education programs. Recent studies cast doubt on
this assumption. They suggest that Latino children attend out-of-home
center-based programs at lower rates because of financial constraints and
lack of access, not because of any cultural reluctance.
In fact, Latina mothers have consistently placed a high value on
quality early childhood programs, but often cannot find affordable
programs in their neighborhoods
What can SLPs do??!
1. All young children are capable of learning two languages.
Becoming bilingual has long-term cognitive, academic,
social, cultural, and economic benefits. Bilingualism
is an asset.
2. Young ELL students require systematic support for the
continued development of
their home language.
3. Loss of the home language has potential negative longterm consequences for the ELL child’ s academic, social,
and emotional development, as well as for the
family dynamics.
4. Teachers and programs can adopt effective strategies to
support home language development even when the
teachers are monolingual English speakers.
5. Dual language programs are an effective approach to
improving academic achievement for ELL children while also
providing benefits to native English speakers.
What can SLPs do??!
6. Hispanic Spanish-speaking children enter Kindergarten
with many social strengths that are the result of positive
parenting practices that need to be acknowledged
and enhanced.
7. Hispanic parents value high-quality early education and
will enroll their young children if programs are affordable and
accessible. Finally, recognizing the period from ages three
to eight as critical for language development is necessary for
providing the continuity and extended time for children to
fully benefit from these programs. The PK-3 years are critical
years for developing mastery of the sounds, structure, and
functions of language, and thus are an ideal time to expose
children to the benefits of two languages .
By focusing on language and
literacy …
There are a broad range of indicators
that define “school readiness,” but
some of the most predictive indicator
of later school success include
measures of early language and
literacy. (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001;
Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
Why specifically Oral Vocabulary for
Spanish-speaking children?
Oral vocabulary can serve as a proxy measure for
the child’s “store of knowledge” (Proctor et al., 2006).
The more a child knows about the world the better
positioned they are to be successful at comprehending more
advanced texts.
Spanish oral vocabulary emerges as a key area to target in
early intervention programs for Spanish-speaking children to
support improved long term academic and reading outcomes
(Lindsey, et al. 2003; Manis, et al., 2004; Oller & Eilers,
2002; Ordoñez, et al., 2002; Proctor, et al., 2006).
Eight studies reviewed by the WWC investigated the effects
of Dialogic Reading in center-based settings. Four studies
(Lonigan, Anthony, Bloomfield, Dyer, & Samwel, 1999;
Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998; Wasik & Bond, 2001;
Whitehurst, Arnold, Epstein, Angell, Smith, & Fischel, 1994)
were randomized controlled trials that met WWC evidence
standards. One study (Crain-Thoreson & Dale, 1999) was a
randomized controlled trial that met WWC evidence
standards with reservations because of differential attrition.
One additional study met the WWC evidence standards
(Whitehurst, Epstein, Angell, Payne, Crone, & Fischel, 1994)
and is included in this report; however, the intervention
included a combination of Dialogic Reading and Sound
Foundations, which does not allow the effects of Dialogic
Reading alone to be determined. Therefore, this study is
discussed separately and the findings are not included in the
intervention ratings. The remaining two studies did not meet
WWC evidence screens.
IES, What Works Clearinghouse, US Dept of Ed
2007
The Value of Dialogic Reading
Joint children’s book reading:
Repeated readings, prompt child to tell
story
Tell me what is going on.
Tell me what this is.
What do you think will happen next?
As build vocabulary, approach more
advanced language interaction
techniques
Open ended questions
Predictive questions
How Dual Language Learners acquire
other language … Styles + Strategies
Case Study 2: When intuitive Bill studies
English, he constantly tries to build a
mental model or big picture of the
language. He avoids step-by-step
language learning. Noriko, attuned more to
the senses (movement, sound, sight, and
touch) than to intuition, looks for English
texts that proceed one step at a time. She
uses flashcards, and with her classmates,
she initiates "total physical response"
exercises that involve all the senses.
How Dual Language Learners acquire
other language … Styles + Strategies
Case Study 3: Serious Sarah outlines
every English lesson, plans her study
sessions, does all the exercises in her
workbook religiously, and is not happy
unless she is on time or ahead of schedule.
Playful Michael tells jokes in English and
has fun with the language, but has trouble
organizing his work, coming to closure, and
submitting his assignments on time.
Possible Strategies Useful for English
Language Learners – FOLLOW THE
CHILD’S LEAD!
Metacognitive techniques for
organizing, focusing, and evaluating
one's own learning
Affective strategies for handling
emotions or attitudes
Social strategies for cooperating with
others in the learning process
Cognitive strategies for linking new
information with existing schemata
and for analyzing and classifying it
Possible Strategies Useful for English
Language Learners – FOLLOW THE
CHILD’S LEAD!
Memory strategies for entering new
information into memory storage and
for retrieving it when needed
Compensation strategies (such as
guessing or using gestures) to
overcome deficiencies and gaps in
one's current language knowledge
How SLP USE 2nd Language
Acquisition Research-based
Information?
Share with ECSE when evaluating
child for two language delays
Apply to intervention for child with
delay in native and new language
Share with parents in “parent-friendly”
language
Share with interpreters as
background information for sharing
interpreted messages
Use in Activity-based Intervention!!
What IS Known About Other
Language Learning
Dual language learning has positive
effects on children’s linguistic and
educational development.
The level of development of children’s
home language is a strong predictor of
their next language learning.
Spending instructional time
through a “minority” language in
the school does not hurt children’s
academic development in the
“majority” school language.
What IS Known About Other
Language Learning (cont)
Children’s home languages are
fragile and easily lost in the early
years of school.
To reject a child’s language in the
school is to reject the child.
For dialogic reading activities
Stages of Second Language
Acquisition in Early Childhood
(Tabors, 1997)
Stages of Other Language Learning
1. Silent/Nonverbal: Child is listening and
observing while ―cracking the code of the
new language.
2a. Early Production-Telegraphic
speech: Children used shortened phrases
such as “put paper” to convey I want you to
put the paper on the table.
2b. Formulaic speech: Children use
prefabricated chunks before they have any
idea of what they mean.
Stages of Other Language
Learning (cont)
3. Productive Language Use: Child
begins to demonstrate an
understanding of the syntactic system
of the language. They go beyond
short phrases and formulas to create
their own sentences conveying
their own precise meaning.
Cummins’ Language
Proficiency Model
Basic Interpersonal Communication
Skills (BICS)
A) Language proficiency needed to
function in everyday personal contexts
B) Not related to academic achievement
Cummins’ Language Proficiency Model
C) BICS usually attained after two years in
host country
D) Examples include the child who has
English phrases often heard on favorite TV
programs such as Blue’s Clues, Dora, etc.
or the child who can respond in English in
a routine setting such as saying “yes
please” at snack or “my turn” to another
child during free play.
It is critical that BICS is not confused
with…
Cummins’ Language Proficiency Model
Cognitive Academic Language
Proficiency (CALP)
A) Language Proficiency needed to
function in decontextualized,
academic settings.
B) Skills needed to manipulate
language outside of the immediate
interpersonal context.
C) Dimension of language related to
literacy skills.
CALP (cont)
D) CALP develops throughout school years
E) Attained between five and seven years in host country
F) Examples include the child who can answer more abstract
questions in English such as “What do you do when you are
hungry?” or can complete verbal analogies in English such
as “A horse is big a mouse is_____?”
Research evidence suggests that there is a significant
amount of individual variation!
Instead it is critical to look at all English language
learning students individually.
There are generally no big categories to capture all
students’ language abilities.
Research indicates these are some of the critical
factors in acquiring a second language: SES, maternal ed,
cognitive ability, level of mastery in native language, motivation,
older siblings, age of introduction to second language.
What can SLP add to the
ECSE learning environment?
Dual language learning aspects to
dialogic reading!
Clearly understand the importance of
language skills to future life functioning,
social/emotional development, and
academic success
Entering the ECSE learning
environment!
Activity-based intervention for dual
language learners with disabilities
Remember Activity-based
Intervention?
Activity-based intervention is defined
as a "child-directed, transactional
approach that embeds intervention on
children's individual goals and
objectives in routine, planned, or
child-initiated activities, and uses
logically occurring antecedents and
consequences to develop functional
and generative skills"
(Bricker & Cripe, 1992).
SLPs can:
Embed speech/language instructional
objectives for dual language learners
in:
Preschool activities
Preschool daily routines (e.g., arrival,
leave taking, etc.)
Teachers’ instructional and directional
language
Recommendations for use at home
Summarizing SLPs Importance
to ECSE learning environments
Share strategies about styles and
strategies in learning other languages
Share dual language research-based
information with teachers, parents, and
other staff
Model “recommended practices” for dual
language learners through activitybased intervention and targeted
instructional language
Follow up to leave skills with classroom staff!
SLPs can encourage …
Support dual language learning opportunities that
can occur during designated classroom
instructional time throughout the day in each
language, in addition to extended activities
conducted in the home by family members in the
child’ s first language.
Encouraging ELL children’ s families to continue to
talk with, read to, and sing to the child and to use
the home language in everyday activities will
promote continuous development of the child’ s
first language while the child also is acquiring
English.
Is Bilingualism Attainable?
Over ½ of the world’s population is
bilingual (deHouwer, 1995)
Many other countries have instituted
and researched bilingual education
including: Canada, Norway, Sweden,
Netherlands, Australia, Mexico, and
China (Krashen, 1999)
Current Barriers to Implementing
EBPs
 Profession struggling to
define and standardize EBPs.
 Next hurdle to overcome is
getting EBPs to teachers.
 And finally, teachers need to
have the time, tools, and
funding to implement the
practices.
Why are SLPs really
important in ECSE?
I. Blending ASHA + DEC definitions of
Evidence-based Practice
II. Embedding normal dual language
development into dialogic reading
III. Applying Activity-based Intervention
to support dual language acquisition
within an ECSE learning environment
You are another piece of …
… how WE CAN CLOSE THE
ACHIEVEMENT GAP!!!
Our Very Precious, Important
Responsibility!!
Thank you for your kind attention!!
And thank you for mine …