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Part of
Multilingual Acquisition and Learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity
Edited by Elena Babatsouli
[Studies in Bilingualism 67] 2024
► pp. 217–245

Chapter 8
Diagnosing speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children

Are English-only assessments sufficient?

| Charles Sturt University
| Charles Sturt University
| Charles Sturt University

Multilingual children suspected of having speech sound disorders (SSD) are often only assessed in English due to challenges facing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) such as inadequate resources, lack of access to multilingual SLPs or interpreters, and limited SLP knowledge and skill in assessing unfamiliar languages. This paper describes the speech profiles and diagnostic decision-making for four bilingual Vietnamese-English speaking children aged 4–6 years. When using English-only assessment all children were diagnosed with SSD. When assessed in English and Vietnamese, only two children were diagnosed with SSD. Many mismatches could be explained by cross-linguistic transfer and ambient phonology. These different diagnostic outcomes demonstrate that direct speech assessment in home language(s) and English is essential for accurate diagnosis of SSD in multilingual children.

Keywords: multilingual, speech, assessment, Vietnamese, speech sound disorder
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Speech sound disorders: Assessment and diagnosis in multilingual children
    • 2.1Childhood speech sound disorders
    • 2.2Speech-language pathology assessment
    • 2.3Diagnosing speech sound disorders in multilingual children
    • 2.4Speech assessment in all languages spoken
  • 3.Four bilingual Vietnamese-English case studies
    • 3.1Study context
    • 3.2Vietnamese and English phonology
    • 3.3Case history reported by parents
      • 3.3.1Family A
      • 3.3.2Family B
    • 3.4Speech assessment and analysis
    • 3.5Decision-making only using English assessments
    • 3.6Decision-making using English and Vietnamese assessments
      • 3.6.1Child 1
        • Speech profile in Vietnamese and English
        • Diagnosis
      • 3.6.2Child 2
        • Speech profile in Vietnamese and English
        • Diagnosis
      • 3.6.3Child 3
        • Speech profile in Vietnamese and English
        • Diagnosis
      • 3.6.4Child 4
        • Speech profile in Vietnamese and English
        • Diagnosis
  • 4.Conclusions and clinical implications
    • 4.1Diagnoses based on English-only versus Vietnamese and English
    • 4.2Signs of speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children
    • 4.3Clinical implications
    • 4.4Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
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