Dual Language Homes: Review of Research & Implications for Early Intervention

1. 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

2. Webinar Outline • The Challenge of Changing Demographics • Literacy & English Language Learners • Connecting with Parents thru Journaling • The SALSA Approach • Implications for Early Intervention • Debunking the myths • ‘ATE’ Tips for Working with Parents from Dual Language Homes

3. Part I The Challenge of changing demographics

4. 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)

5. US Demographics(US Census Bureau, 2006)

6. ASHA Demographics(ASHA, 2010)

7. Michigan SLP Survey(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)

8. MSHA Demographic Profile(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)

9. MSHA CLD Profile(Caesar & Kohler, 2007)

10. Michigan Linguistic Profile(Caesar, 2004-unpublished dissertation) Top 5 (of 40) Languages (students on caseload) • Spanish 63% • Arabic 42% • Chinese 18% • Korean 9% • Laotian 6% Top 5 (of 9) Languages (responding clinicians) • ASL (7) 28% • Spanish (5) 20% • German ( 3) 12% • Bulgarian (1) 1% • French (1) 1%

11. 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

12. Part II literacy and ells

13. 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)

14. Literacy and ELLs-1 • Improvement of literacy outcomes is an area of national concern • ELLs twice as likely to demonstrate sub-average literacy skills (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) • Oral proficiency- a prerequisite for literacy development of ELLs (August & Shanahan, 2006)

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Issues in Second LanguageIntervention • Role and impact of L1 on L2 • Language of Instruction and Intervention • Impact of mothers’ use of Spanish • Culturally-relevant intervention • Insufficient parent involvement

19. 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

20. Part III

21. A picture is worth a thousand words………

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. Part IV The SALSA approach (to parent INVOLVEMENT)

25. 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

26. 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

27. The SALSA Project Students and Teachers Telamon Migrant Head Start Center SALSA ‘Bag Day’

28. 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)

29. Parents’ Role • PARENTS • Attend a training session regarding language-based parent-child interactions • Draw pictures with the child using materials in the pre-school journal kit (SALSA bag) • Return drawings once weekly

30. Clinician’s Role --Redraw and expand parent’s drawing --Scaffold child’s language, extend vocabulary

34. Wilcoxon p = .013**

35. Part V Implications for early intervention

36. 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

37. 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

38. Part VI Let’s debunk the myths!

39. 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

40. 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

41. Part VII Hot Tips for working with Parents

42. ‘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 Respect

43. Questions?