Equity and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity

1540L - Research Symposium: Questioning Assumptions of the Bilingual Delay in Children with and without DLD

Friday, November 18, 2022

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM CT

Format: 1-Hour Seminar (In-Person)

Audience: Students, Public/Consumers, Researchers, Related Professionals, Early Career Professionals (under 5 years)

Keywords: Bilingualism, Social justice, developmental language disorder

Presenting Author(s)

Elizabeth Pena

University of California Irvine
Lisa M. Bedore, PhD, CCC-SLP

Professor & Chair Communication Sciences and Disorders
Temple University
Leah Fabiano-Smith

University of Arizona

The long-held misconception that bilinguals demonstrate delays in two languages contributes to misidentification of DLD. We discuss implications of this assumption from a linguistic justice perspective. We explore the extent to which we observe a “bilingual delay” at the individual level in Spanish-English bilingual children with and without DLD.

Learning Objectives:

Define the nature of the assumed bilingual delay
Identify sources of societal bias against bilingualism
Identify how assumptions of bilingual delay that lead to disparities and inequities