Dual Language Homes:
Review of Research & Implications for Early Intervention
Lena G. Caesar, Ed.D., Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI
January 21, 2011
Webinar Outline
I. The Challenge of Changing Demographics
II. Literacy & English Language Learners
III. Connecting with Parents thru Journaling
IV. The SALSA Approach
V. Implications for Early Intervention
VI. Debunking the myths
VII. ‘ATE’ Tips for Working with Parents from
Dual Language Homes
Part I
THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGING
DEMOGRAPHICS
Why talk about Dual Language?
• US experiencing a demographic shift
• Minority populations –especially
Hispanics—experiencing rapid growth
• Demographics of ASHA membership not
keeping up with changes nationwide
(ASHA membership survey, 2009)
US Demographics
(US Census Bureau, 2006)
ASHA Demographics
(ASHA, 2010)
Michigan SLP Survey
(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)
MSHA Demographic Profile
(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)
94.7
African American
Asian
Caucasian
Latino
Biracial
0.3
0.5
4.3
0.3
MSHA CLD Profile
(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)
400
300
200
100
0
monobilingual
M B
Michigan Linguistic Profile
(Caesar, 2004-unpublished dissertation)
Top 5 (of 40) Languages
(students on caseload)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Spanish
Arabic
Chinese
Korean
Laotian
63%
42%
18%
9%
6%
Top 5 (of 9) Languages
(responding clinicians)
1. ASL (7)
2. Spanish (5)
3. German ( 3)
4. Bulgarian (1)
5. French (1)
28%
20%
12%
1%
1%
Why talk about Dual Language?
• Children were ‘born to talk’— pre-wired for
communication
• Research on infant perceptual skills
suggests innate multilingual abilities
• Consistent early stimulation (regardless of
language) is vital to language acquisition
Part II
LITERACY AND ELLS
Significance of
Pre-literacy Skills
− More than any other single skill, the ability
to read and read well will allow a child to
succeed in school, society and the world.
(National Literacy Panel, 2006)
− Problems children experience learning to
read are related to pre-literacy skills they
bring from their home environments and/or
preschools.
(Lonigan, 2006)
Literacy and ELLs-1
• Improvement of literacy outcomes is an
area of national concern
• ELLs twice as likely to demonstrate subaverage literacy skills (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998)
• Oral proficiency- a prerequisite for literacy
development of ELLs (August & Shanahan, 2006)
»
Literacy and ELLs-2
In general, ELLs:
• Do worse than majority of peers of similar
SES
• Do not ‘catch up” –even with intervention
• Derive fewer benefits from Shared-Book
Reading
Literacy and ELLs-3
• Parental literacy strongly associated with
children’s language/literacy development
• ELLs tend to have poorer literacy
outcomes & lower academic achievement
• ELLs who may be especially vulnerable:
• Low SES
• Low literacy parental background
• Nomadic/Itinerant lifestyle
Importance of Parental Input
• Effective Home Literacy Environments
•
•
•
•
Verbal interactions are abundant
Literacy valued
Experiences with print encouraged
Strong Parental Beliefs/Expectations held
• Poor Home Literacy Environments (Hart & Risley)
• “meaningful differences” in vocab knowledge
• Delayed language acquisition
• Lack of “school readiness’ & literacy skills
Issues in Second Language
Intervention
•
•
•
•
•
Role and impact of L1 on L2
Language of Instruction and Intervention
Impact of mothers’ use of Spanish
Culturally-relevant intervention
Insufficient parent involvement
Barriers to Parental Involvement
•
•
•
•
•
Low literacy (in both languages)
Difficult working conditions (exhaustion)
Poor Housing conditions
Beliefs re role of educators
Poor self-image regarding literacy
Part III
A picture is worth a thousand
words………
PRESCHOOL JOURNALLING
(Nelson, 2010)
• Send spiral notebook home with requests
for “news” of the night
• Parent makes primitive drawing and records
child’s dictated comments exactly
Doggie eat grass. Got sick. Yucky.
TEACHER/CLINICIAN STEPS
• Looks at news picture with child
• Redraws picture on bigger paper
• Scaffolds retelling of “there and then”
narrative
• Invites child to color picture, add features,
write name
Doggie eat grass. Got sick on floor. Mommy clean it up.
Part IV
THE SALSA APPROACH
(TO PARENT INVOLVEMENT)
The SALSA Project
• Collaborative Intervention Study
• Andrews University (AU) and
Western Michigan University (WMU)
• Co-investigators:
– Lena G. Caesar, Ed.D., Ph.D.
– Nickola W. Nelson, Ph.D.,
• Student Clinicians:
• AU: Natalya Franco, Kalina Shaw & Kimaura Jackson
• WMU : Paula Vergunst, Megan Kovach, & Katie Smoes
Goals of the Project
• To support parental involvement in
children’s literacy development
• To train parents in providing language and
literacy stimulation in the home environment
The SALSA Project
Students and Teachers
Telamon Migrant Head Start Center
SALSA ‘Bag Day’
Project Participants
• CHILD participants
– 21 Spanish-speaking ELLs
– Ranging in age from 2;8 – 5;9
• PARENT participants
– 18-20 families of Mexican descent
– Educational Level: < HS (85%); HS (15%)
– Primary Language: Spanish (70%); Other (30%)
(Indigenous languages: Nahuatl & Mixtec)
Parents’ Role
• PARENTS
– Attend a training session regarding languagebased parent-child interactions
– Draw pictures with the child using materials in
the pre-school journal kit (SALSA bag)
– Return drawings once weekly
Clinician’s Role
--Redraw and expand parent’s drawing
--Scaffold child’s language, extend vocabulary
Total Raw Score
ELSA Pre-Post Total Scores
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Wilcoxon p = .013**
Exp
Control
Pre
Post
English
Pre
Post
Spanish
Pre-Post by Test Language
Part V
IMPLICATIONS FOR
EARLY INTERVENTION
SALSA & Parental Involvement
• Structured venue for parent-child
interaction
• Involvement of parents in print activity
• Functional language stimulation in L1
(and L2)
• Source of functional, relevant content
• Positive parent-clinician partnerships
Other Implications
• Clinical Implications
– Provides alternative approach to parent-clinician
communication
– Provides source of information on family’s interests
• Ethno-cultural Implications
– Cultural appropriateness of intervention
– Validation of L1 ( Kayser, 1998; Brice, 2002)
– Parental Empowerment
Part VI
LET’S DEBUNK THE MYTHS!
Debunking the myths-1
• To effectively work with bilingual families,
all SLPs should become bilingual
• Using an interpreter guarantees open and
clear communication
• Clinicians should encourage parents to
speak L1 to the child---regardless of
parental proficiency
• Clinicians should provide therapy in L2 --regardless of their proficiency
Debunking the myths-2
• Learning 2 languages produces confusion
and delay
• Bilingualism produces delays in both
languages
• Language mixing/code switching is a sign
of a language disorder
• Parents of ELLs are not concerned about
their children’s language development
Part VII
HOT TIPS
FOR WORKING WITH PARENTS
‘ATE’ Tips for working with
Parents in DL Homes
•
•
•
•
•
•
Initiate (Don’t be afraid to lead)
Relate (Relationships transcend language barriers)
Educate (Training is essential)
Validate (value culture and language)
(be) Appropriate (Sensitive, relevant, feasible)
Innovate – just do it!
Respect
Respect