Roanne G. Brice

Investigation of Phonemic Awareness and Phonic Skills in Spanish-English Bilingual and English-Speaking Kindergarten Students:

The ability to read on grade level is a fundamental skill required for children to achieve academic success. Students who are English language learners (ELLs) and/or those who have learning disabilities often find it extremely difficult to achieve at the reading expectation level. This study examines English phonemic awareness and phonic skills in four groups of kindergarten students with and without disabilities: (a) 20 high-reading-level English monolinguals, (b) 20 low-reading-level English monolinguals, (c) 20 high-reading-level English-Spanish bilinguals, and (d) 20 low-reading-level English-Spanish bilinguals. Findings indicated differences for monolingual versus bilingual speakers in their ability to identify voiced versus voiceless contrasts. It appears from these findings that an achievement gap in reading levels between monolingual and bilingual students exists even at the kindergarten grade level.

Language in the English as a Second Language and General Education Classrooms: A Tutorial

As the culturally and linguistically diverse population of the United States continues to increase dramatically, speech— language pathologists (SLPs) and special education teachers in particular face the challenge of how best to assess and teach those students whose primary language is not English. The changing U.S. demographics are driving a need for a more comprehensive understanding of students learning English as a second language and the effect upon their education of learning English as a second language. A substantial number of English language learner (ELL) students, with and without disabilities, may not possess the requisite classroom discourse or pragmatic skills, may face difficulties, and may be incapable of fully benefiting in their learning. This tutorial will discuss factors related to describing classroom discourse in the context of five ethnographic studies, with particular attention paid to pragmatic language skills for ELL students with and without disabilities. This article will also discuss strategies for what these students need to know regarding pragmatic language skills and which strategies school professionals need to implement for bilingual ELL students (i.e., regarding planning and communication in delivering instruction). This knowledge should assist school professionals in making more appropriate decisions in assessment and instruction for these students.

Identifying Hispanic Gifted Children: A Screening

Identification of Hispanic children for gifted programs, particularly those in a rural environment, has been problematic. The question still remains as to what are effective identifying procedures to screen Hispanic students. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between standardized test scores and teacher ratings of student behaviors. Thirty-two Mexican-American students and 23 general education teachers from a small, rural school district in South-Central Florida served as the study participants. Fourteen correlations were calculated involving Stanford Reading and Stanford Math scores with the teacher ratings. Nine correlations were significant (9/14=64%). The Academic Checklist scores and Intellectual scores from the teacher ratings correlated the highest with the Stanford Math scores. The Math portion of the Stanford test may be less linguistically biased. Almost one fourth of the teacher rating items seemed to reflect an Anglo-American bias. Those items which seemed to reflect cultural or linguistic bias are discussed.

Examination of the Critical Period Hypothesis and Ultimate Attainment Among Spanish-English Bilinguals and English-Speaking Monolinguals

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to study speech recognition among Spanish-English bilingual and monolingual English-speaking individuals in two, separate yet related, studies. The first study examined phonotactic aspects and age of arrival on speech perception among three groups of bilingual individuals, thereby investigating the effects of age limitations on second language learning. The second study addressed whether fluent and proficient bilingual speakers showed equal perceptual abilities when compared to monolingual English speakers on only English gated words, thus measuring their ultimate attainment in English. Forty-five Spanish/English fluent bilinguals with no reported speech, language, or hearing deficits participated in experiment one, whereas 30 Spanish-English fluent bilinguals and 30 monolingual English speakers with no reported speech, language, or hearing deficits participated in the second study. The Spanish-English bilingual listeners were able to differentiate words when the initial consonant cluster was voiced. In addition, CV-tense words were identified quicker (than CV-lax words) in Spanish than in English. It also appeared that exposure to two languages over a period of six or more years yielded enhanced phonotactic abilities in the second language, that is, positive language transference. Results from this study indicated that ultimate attainment of speech perception in a second language seems to occur from 9 to 15 years of age, that is, in direct contrast to when abilities should decrease according to the critical period or age limitation hypothesis. Results from the second study indicated that the Spanish-English speakers performed overall on par with their monolingual counterparts achieving ultimate attainment in speech perception. Therefore, the two studies reported here have not supported the notion of the critical period hypothesis (Lenneberg, 1967).

Recovery From a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Days 1 Through 22

Subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAHs) are a serious medical emergency, as 30% to 50% of all SAHs can result in death. Personal accounts and case studies are an important aspect of evidence-based practice. This first article of two presents a review of AB’s (patient) condition immediately following an SAH in the intensive care and immediately post discharge, that is, Days 1 through 22. An SAH shares many similarities with other neurological traumas such as a cerebral vascular accident, meningitis, and/or traumatic brain injury. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in medical settings have worked with patients and families with these types of disorders. Therefore, SLPs should be well equipped to assist with SAH issues from their existing knowledge and experiences.

Recovery from a subarachnoid hemorrhage: Patient and spouse perspectives.

This second article of a two-part case study focuses on the experiences of a patient and his spouse (caregiver) when a neurological trauma occurs. It is the personal account when A.B. survived a vertebral artery aneurysm and hemorrhage resulting in a subarachnoid hemorrhage. It is also an in-depth post-trauma account from two speech-language pathologists’ viewpoints (i.e., patient and spouse/caregiver). Present-day persistent difficulties, 5 years post-trauma, are also presented. Therapeutic strategies for managing working memory difficulties, attention issues, and word retrieval issues are given. The spouse’s perspective on managing emotional and caregiver stressors and recommendations based on these personal experiences and the Caregiver Empowerment Scale are provided. Suggestions for patients with neurological trauma returning home are suggested to improve home and social integration. In addition, strategies for caregivers are suggested to reduce stress and improve quality of life.

Alzheimer's dementia from a bilingual/bicultural perspective: A case study

Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) is a progressive, degenerative disease that occurs in the cerebral cortex due to increased levels of glutamate, the proliferation of plaque-forming amyloid beta proteins, and reactive gliosis. Establishing behavioral indicators of the disease (e.g., impairments of episodic memory) and use of neuroimaging technology that can substantiate medial temporal lobe brain structure deficiencies demonstrates an important clinical neuroanatomic relationship needed for early evaluation of possible AD diagnosis. This bilingual/bicultural case study details the cognitive and language impairments associated with AD over the course of 1 year. Utilization of a bilingual/bicultural case study may elucidate the pattern of language and cognitive decline in this understudied population. Formal and informal measures, observations, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results are provided. Insights into cultural and linguistic differences are presented.