Cultural safety, relevance, and effectiveness of speech
and language services to Indigenous young children
Sharla Peltier, BSc, MEd
Speech/Language Pathologist
Chippewas of Rama
Mnjikaning First Nation,
Ontario
Jessica Ball, MPH, PhD
Clinical/Developmental
Psychologist
School of Child and Youth Care
University of Victoria, BC
Culture
“The way to live today”
(Cree Elder Eddie Belrose)
Tradition
Anishinaabe
bimaadzawin “Living
the good life”
(Odawa Elder Stanley
Peltier)
3/24/2016
Putting on a culturally sensitive lens
If we do not understand where a person is
coming from in terms of their cultural
and linguistic background, the
relationship-building process is impeded
3/24/2016
A Strong Relational Worldview
 Customs and traditions that direct us – holistic and contextual
 Sharing and contextual learning for living in our environment
and with each other
 Everything is in a state of change – Aboriginal education
philosophy and world view are relevant in contemporary times
and address current issues
 Indigenous knowledge is fundamental to the teaching and
learning process
 The medicine wheel is one tool
Medicine Wheel
Four Aspects of a Person
Emotional
Physical
Spiritual
Mental
Indigenous Cultural Principals
 Spiritual relationship with the land – we are part of the
land and are in harmony with it, in a state of
interdependence with plants and animals, environment,
social and mental contexts
 Importance of person-to-person relationship – kinship
terms, greetings
 Each of us has a personal responsibility for learning and
balance in our relationships
 Natural law directs us to be respectful, kind, loving, having
humility and compassion for all living things
Spiritual Intelligence
 What we use to develop our longing and capacity for
meaning, vision and value
 Allows the individual to dream and strive
 Underlies the things we believe in and the role our beliefs
and values play in actions that we take and the shape we
give our lives…morality
A shared and collective
vision/philosophy
Individual
Family
Community
Nation
Universe
A culturally safe, teaching/therapeutic approach encompasses
Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, such as:
1.
Observing not just with our physical (eyes, senses) but also making
connections with our feelings and mind
2.
Experiential involving the mind, heart, spirit, land and events
(traditional activities outside of the classroom)
3.
Comprehending holistically…not just intellectually but also
emotionally (to twice understand)
4.
Strong emotional and spiritual factors to the learning experience
5.
Teaching/learning settings and practices that are reflected within the
community experience and traditions = socio-cultural relevancy
Developing a culturally safe and relevant
professional approach
What are we talking about?
Cultural safety in ancillary and primary health services,
such as SLP & Audiology services, OT, PT, and maternal
and child health care.
Survey of 70 CALSPA SLPs indicated a need
for “an altogether different approach”
70 SLP /CASLPA members with years of experience
with Indigenous children & families
•online survey questionnaire
•reflections on practice with Indigenous children
0-8 years old
•rural & urban experience
Challenges for SLP–Indigenous client encounters
SLPs did not feel prepared through their training,
professional development, mainstream tools &
intervention methods
Mainstream, Euro-Western training & tools
embody a particular, dominant cultural location
Screening and
assessment tools and
interventions methods
are cultural artefacts.
Using them without
question, modification
or caveats reproduces
the cultural source and
that created them.
From deficits to differences and building on
strengths
One big bundle of pathology….
OR
•Second language & second dialect learning
•Cultural distinctiveness
•Challenging socio-historical conditions
•Inequitable quality of life, especially:
•poor quality housing
•low access to health promotion & early intervention
Strengths-based, family & community centred
approaches
Family & community focus
64% of SLP respondents emphasized
these learning points based on their
practice experiences:
 develop & provide programs &
services that are family & community
focused
 learn about cultural beliefs, practices
& ways of being of the families &
communities to be served
 be aware of diversity – tailor make
approaches, rather than taking a
standardized, uniform approach
Improve knowledge of local culture and
community
SLPs emphasized:
learn from families being
served, learn from Elders,
Indigenous mentors within the
Indigenous community as well
as conferences & workshops
An ethic of collaboration
Knowledge sharing vs. informing
Collaborative problem solving vs. expert/authority
Reciprocal learning / mutual capacity building
Co-constructing ways to move supports into place
Developing a culturally safe and relevant
professional approach: getting specific…
1.
Consider presenting profile of communicative behaviours
in light of cultural socialization processes, home and
community environment
2. Involve parent/cultural informant interviews to identify
contextual evidence supporting FN’s dialect – survey of
adults’ English/dialect, Aboriginal language
3. Observe/identify child’s interests and familiar activities
and incorporate in assessment, programming activities
4. Use dynamic assessment
Symbols/Pictographs
Aboriginal peoples historically used pictographs
(eg. red ochre paintings on rock surfaces, birchbark scrolls) and
petroglyphs (red ochre carvings on rock surfaces) to record major
events and practices
- Examples are found along waterways of Northern Great Lakes to
northeastern Saskatchewan, parts of Quebec and northern Shield of
Ontario
- Depict contact period/trade, mythological beings
Aboriginal students have a natural affinity to visualization
(eg. looking away when listening in order to visualize/process the
speaker’s message and symbolism; Art)
This visual communication style can be encouraged when
teaching new words and concepts and for facilitating print
comprehension
First Nations
“Language Communication Profile”
 Reflection of cultural differences
- conceptual knowledge
- vocabulary
- interpersonal communication styles
 Reflection of environmental factors
- exposure
- dual language learning
- transition
- setting
 Reflection of world-View
3/24/2016
Listening Behaviours
Vary with socialization practices -Learned at home and in the
community prior to school enrollment
 Aboriginal people value this skill and expect young people
to listen more than they talk – as life experience and
knowledge is gained a person speaks/shares
 Teachers can direct students to “send your words to the
listener’s ears”
 Introduce the social communication practices and
expectations as “school talk” and teach ways to be a good
listener/speaker (eg. turning your body towards the
person/group you’re interacting with)
Things to Consider When Interpreting
Performance on Tests
Phonology/Sound System
Aboriginal children’s world view and language
supports a different appreciation for features and
characteristics (e.g. Horse = “one toe”)
Prepositions – words that explicitly tell the
location of an item (eg. Hide the button, barrier
games, one and two step instructions in-context)
Gender terms – he/she, him/her
First Nation English Dialects
 The variety of English
spoken by an Aboriginal
person
 Different pronunciation/
accent, vocabulary, sentence
structure
 Dialects have a complete
grammatical rule system
governing pronunication,
word formation, and the
combining of words into
sentences
 Seen in mainstream
(dominant culture) schools
as “inferior”,
“ungrammatical” when
biased assessment tools and
norms based on Standard
English are used as the
yardstick
 FNED is an important area of
socialization/ power/link to
community and self-identity
Ojibway FNED Speakers
 Do not use f, v, th (eg Mary = “Moni”, this = “dis”,
Vincent = “Behsen”)
 Some dialects do not have an r, l
When Aboriginal children enter school, they are
attuned to FNED speech sounds and cannot
perceive all of the English sounds
3/24/2016
Oral Language & Phonological Awareness
Focus
 Academically, Aboriginal students are often 2 years behind their non-
Aboriginal age-mates in Canada
 Aboriginal peoples have oral histories
 First Nations Peoples have an Indian Mind
 FNED has not tapped these assets in the classroom
 Research shows that 20% of elementary school students require PA training
 Aboriginal children often present at school with non-standard dialects of
English or second language learning issues, often concurrent with recurrent
otitis media resulting in chronic mild-moderate hearing loss persisting to
age 10.
3/24/2016
Parent Interview Form – Home Language Context
 Description of languages used in the home
 Does ___ speak/understand the Ojibway language?
If so, when did he/she begin to learn Ojibway?
 How old when first word in Ojibway? English?
 How old when first sentence in Ojibway? English?
 Description of family contacts with FN community
 Family’s motivation to become or remain proficient in English? Ojibway?
From Schiff-Meyers, N.B. (Jan 1992) “Considering Arrested Language Development and Language
Loss in the Assessment of Second Language Learners”
Language, Speech and Hearing Services in the Schools, 23, 28-33.
Persisting problematic issues
 Deficit model (Clinical, medical model and Special Education perspective)
 Formal Speech and language tests are invalid
 Lack of relationships between parents and schools or other services
 Over-identification of Aboriginal students in Special Education program
and on SLP caseload
 Up to 40% Aboriginal children in Primary Grades have chronic Otitis
Media
 Home programming tends to be prescriptive and therapizes the
family/parents
Appropriate Approaches
 Use materials and topics that Aboriginal experiences and
storytelling
 Discuss and address bias in resources and sterotypical
images
 Honour Aboriginal pedagogy
 Elicit parental and community participation
 Acknowledge traditions and celebrations
 Contribute to community based service capacities
References

Ball, J. (2009). Supporting young Indigenous children’s language development in Canada: A review of
research on needs and promising practices. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 66(1), 20-47.

Ball, J. (2008). Aboriginal young children’s language and literacy development: Progress, promising
practices, and needs. Invited monograph for the Encyclopedia of the Canadian Language and Literacy
Research Network, National Literacy Strategy Initiative.

Ball, J. (2008). Promoting equity and dignity for Aboriginal children in Canada. Invited monograph
for the Institute for Research on Public Policy. IRPP Choices, Volume 14 (7), 1-30.

Ball, J. & Bernhardt, B.M. (2008). First Nations English dialects in Canada: Implications for speechlanguage pathology practice. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics. 22:8, 570-588.

Ball, J. (Bernhardt, B., Ball, J., & Deby, J. (2009). Cross-Cultural Interaction and Children’s
SpeechAcquisition. In The International Guide to SpeechAcquisition (pp.101-106). Thomson.
References
Langan, L.A., Sockalingam, R., Caissie, R., & Corsten, G. (2007) Occurrence of Otitis Media
and Hearing Loss Among First Nations Elementary School Children. Canadian Journal of
Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, 31 (4), 178-185.
Peltier, S. (2010).– First Nation English Dialect and Language Literacy Development in
Schools. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 32, 114-142.
Peltier, S. (2010). Valuing Children’s Storytelling From An Anishinaabe Orality Perspective
Nip U 2010, National Library Thesis Canada. Available at:
www.collectionscanada.ca/thesescanada
Peltier, S. (2009). First Nations English Dialects in Young Children: Assessment Issues and
Supportive Interventions Canadian Language and Literacy Network Website –
Encyclopedia of Language and Literacy Development
http://literacyencyclopedia.ca/indes.php?fa-items.show&topicId=276
FN Language and Community Profiles
 www.languagegeek.com/isolate/tlingit.html
 http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-
pd/prof/92-591/searchrecherche/lst/page.cfm?Lang=E&GeoCode=35
for more information please visit
www.ecdip.org
Miigwech
(your interest and participation are appreciated)
Contact us:
sharlap@sympatico.ca
peltiesh@rainbowschools.ca
jball@uvic.ca