Article written by: Elizabeth D. Peña, PhD, CCC-SLP and Lisa M. Bedore, PhD, CCC-SLP
SLPs share ways of using books to boost language-learning of bilingual students with developmental language disorder.
How do we design interventions for bilingual students? Do we plan activities in the home language, the school language, or both? These are some questions speech-language pathologists might ask when working with bilingual students with developmental language disorder (DLD).
As the bilingual school-age population grows, so, too, do numbers of bilingual students with DLD on SLPs’ caseloads. Recent census studies estimate that approximately 12 million children speak a language other than English at home, while DLD affects about 7%–10% of the population. These students need to learn skills in both their languages, so that they can access the curriculum in the school language and interact with loved ones in their home language. International human rights organizations like the United Nations support the right to use the language(s) of one’s community.
As SLPs, we understand that bilingual intervention does not delay language-learning in students with DLD. Even if we don’t speak or understand the child’s home language, we can support both their languages by building connections between them. Using books in intervention can be particularly effective for engaging children in both languages, promoting their communication and learning.
Supporting both languages
Planning interventions to maximize potential transfer of skills between languages is one way SLPs can support bilingual students. Of course, many skills transfer between languages—but not everything transfers automatically. While language meaning (semantics and narratives) might transfer smoothly, language form (mainly grammar) often differs.
Even when word types or structure are similar, exposing children to content and concepts in both languages together can build metalinguistic awareness of how their languages connect.
Book-based interventions address both meaning and form—which supports elementary school students with DLD. We can use books to target phonological, lexical-semantic, and narrative goals. Tying selected books to classroom topics supports subject-matter learning.