Perspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations

Coordinator's Column

Lewis, N. — 2009-06-25

Defining Bilingualism: Factors Contributing to Variability in Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-English Bilingual Children

Davison, M. D. — 2009-06-25

Given the increasing number of children from homes in which a language other than English is the primary language, it is important for speech-language pathologists to understand how bilingualism is defined and the implications of different defining factors for language development and later literacy outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors contributing to the differences observed across bilingual language and literacy development. Previous research suggests there are differences in the language and literacy development of bilingual children due to differing ages of exposure to each language and the context in which each language is then used. Implications for assessment and interventions are discussed.

Expository Text: Reading Comprehension, Bilingualism, and Instructional Strategies

Bejos, K. — 2009-06-25

This literature review examines reading comprehension issues related to expository text. It describes what factors contribute to the complexity of expository text, what abilities and skills a reader must possess, and expository text structure. The review addresses influences of bilingualism on expository text comprehension. It discusses the relation of second language oral proficiency on reading, the complexity of the reading task for bilinguals, how they approach reading, and the transfer of literacy skills across languages. The final section reviews instructional strategies aimed at improving reading comprehension of expository text. This includes strategies to teach comprehension of the cause and effect concept, paraphrasing, and types of tasks to assess reading comprehension that are appropriate for bilingual readers.

Instruction in Cause and Effect Paraphrasing Using Social Studies Text With a Secondary Bilingual Student: A Case Study

Bejos, K. — 2009-06-25

Purpose: This case study describes the use of the paraphrasing strategy with cause-and-effect (C/E) relations as a technique to improve a 14-year-old high school student's reading comprehension of social studies text in both his native (Spanish) and second language (English).

Method: The student used expository texts from state textbook adoption materials. Instruction was based on scaffolded dialogue that cued the student to attend to and paraphrase various aspects of the C/E concept.

Results: Despite the fact that the student began with texts at reading levels 5 and 6 years below his actual grade level, the comprehension of C/E relations in history text was a challenge. Several factors contributed to the complexity of the task for the student. By the final phase of intervention, he was successfully paraphrasing with texts that were 3 and 4 years above the baseline reading grade levels.

Implications: The salient points from this study that may be useful for educators or speech language pathologists are: a description of the difficulties that interfered with the student's comprehension and the thought processes he used, types of cues used to teach C/E relations, and evidence of the student's development of paraphrases and comprehension.