Child Language Disorders Across Languages, Cultural Contexts and Syndromes

Janet L. Patterson

This book is about children with language disorders who speak languages other than or in addition to English. The authors address a wide range of clinical and theoretical questions. For example, what do we know about the course of development in bilingual children with Down syndrome (DS)? What language measures are available for French-speaking children? For Turkish-speaking children? How can we deliver early intervention services effectively to a Gujarati-speaking family living in London? Is the profile of strengths and weaknesses in Williams syndrome (WS) similar across languages?

The rich and increasing body of cross-linguistic research on specific language impairment (SLI) illustrates the value of a multilinguistic perspective for theory testing and development, as well as for clinical applications (e.g. Leonard, 2009, 2014; Paradis, 2010). This book extends a multilinguistic perspective to a wider range of child language disorders. This volume is organized in two sections. The chapters in the first section of the book focus on language disorders associated with four different syndromes in multilingual populations and contexts. The chapters in the second section of the book are language-specific, although the issues they address are relevant across languages and cultural contexts.

In the section on language impairments associated with specific syndromes, the first two chapters provide research reviews and clinical implications for bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; Marinova-Todd and Mirenda, Chapter 2) and DS (Kay-Raining Bird, Chapter 3). These two chapters address important clinical and theoretical questions such as 'Is learning two languages harder than learning one language for children with language disorders?', 'What language(s) should be included in intervention?' and 'Is the profile of typical strengths and weaknesses and the rate of language development different for bilingual children versus monolingual children with syndromes such as ASD or DS?'. In Chapter 4, Thorne and Coggins provide information on language and communication impairments among children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), assessment tools and intervention. Stojanovik reviews the literature on language and communication difficulties in Williams syndrome (WS) among English-speaking children and children who speak other languages (Chapter 5). The chapters on FASD and WS include discussions of assessment and intervention implications for children with these syndromes, regardless of the language(s) they speak.

The language-specific section of the book starts with To's chapter (Chapter 6) on language impairment in Cantonese Chinese-speaking children. Her chapter includes information on Cantonese oral and written language; manifestations of language impairment in Chinese children with SLI, dyslexia and ASD; and clinical resources and guidelines for assessment and intervention. Although the clinical tools and strategies that To discusses specifically address Cantonese-speaking children, she and the authors of the other chapters in this section discuss assessment and intervention issues and strategies that are relevant to children with language disorders more generally. Stokes and Madhani (Chapter 7) present a framework for providing early intervention services and they demonstrate its application to working in London with children and families who speak North Indian languages (Panjabi, Gujarati and Bengali). Their chapter includes information on cultural and linguistic considerations for families from northern India, widely applicable clinical strategies for working with families in multilingual contexts and a case example to demonstrate the strategies. In Chapter 8, Elin Thordardottir provides a wealth of information on language development, primary language impairment (PLI) and assessment tools for French-speaking preschool and early school-age children, and she discusses important issues in developing and using valid assessment tools for monolingual versus bilingual children. Topbas and Mavis (Chapter 9) focus on the development of Turkish language assessment tools and, more generally, the importance of developing valid language measures for identifying children with PLI or SLI. Without such tools, Topbas and Mavis point out that children with SLI may not be provided with appropriate services since their needs will not be identified on the basis of associated cognitive, motoric or sensory impairments. InChapter 10, Rodríguez focuses on dialectal differences in Spanish and the importance of taking linguistic variation into account in language assessment.

Multiple Dimensions of Diversity

An understanding of the ways in which language disorders are manifested across languages enhances our understanding of the nature of language disorders and how to better serve children and families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This book includes cross-linguistic information on patterns of language growth and weaknesses among children with SLI, and among children with language impairments associated with other developmental difficulties and diagnoses. Thus, the diversity in this book extends to variation within and across clinical populations as well as across languages and cultures.

Although there are many language-specific and culture-specific facts, details, assessment tools and intervention recommendations included in this volume, this book is intended to provide a foundation for working with multilingual children and families in general, including those who speak languages not specifically addressed in this book. Examining language disorders in widely divergent circumstances (different languages, monolingual versus bilingual, different cultural contexts and different diagnoses and developmental disabilities) gives us a perspective on the range of considerations...