Using Informal Measures to Separate Language Impairment From Language Influence When Working With Diverse Students

Abstract

Purpose Determining whether language errors result from native language influence or speech-language impairment can be challenging for professionals diagnosing and treating children from diverse backgrounds. Although we are fortunate to have some formal measures for Spanish-speaking children, children who speak any other language need to be evaluated informally. Taking language and culture into account, this article provides school-based professionals with a framework to separate language difference from disorder to improve diagnostic decisions and reduce caseloads by identifying students who may not need services. Conclusion Both linguistic and cultural knowledge are critical when working with families and children from different language backgrounds. To successfully diagnose and treat bilingual children, linguistic information needs to be further analyzed for differences of morphology, semantics, and syntax. An informal framework can successfully be applied during the evaluation and goal writing process so that professions can correctly differentiate between normal errors caused by second-language influence and errors that are indicative of a language disorder.