Developing Linguistic/Cultural Competence in Heritage Languages

Abstract

Abstract The field of neuropsychology is diversifying its workforce, in part, to access linguistic/cultural resources that can aid in the provision of improved services to our research and clinical populations. Consequently, a growing number of people enter the field with knowledge of a heritage language learned at home. To exploit this resource optimally, the profession needs to incorporate training for clinical competence in the heritage language/culture. Many entering the field have Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) in their heritage language, but not Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills (CALPS) or clinical proficiency. Based on our training experiences, we present a comprehensive, aspirational model of honing clinical competence in the heritage language that includes the following components: Goal settingTraining planAcademic creditMentoringPeer supportEvaluating language needsFormal language instructionInterpreter trainingLanguage Immersion experiencesClinically-directed language learningAccessing in-language professional literature, tests, and other resourcesTraining in basic cultural competenciesLearning about heritage culture academically and clinicallyEasing into in-language clinical experienceSupervisionAttention to language skills during clinical trainingContinuous learning This general model needs to be flexible in its application due to variability in the trainee’s base language skills, available faculty and resources, available clinical and research populations, individual goals, and language-specific characteristics.