Culturally Appropriate Practices for Facilitating Early Language Development
of Indigenous Children
Jessica Ball
Marlene Lewis
Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships
School of Child and Youth Care
University of Victoria
Human Early Learning Partnership
Jessica Ball
Marlene Lewis
Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships
School of Child and Youth Care
University of Victoria
Culturally Appropriate Practices for Facilitating Early Language Development
of Indigenous Children
HELP Mandate: To create, promote & apply new knowledge through interdisciplinary research to help children thrive.
ECDIP Mission: To expand knowledge & capacity for supporting Indigenous children’s health and development in community contexts
Our focus in this project: To expand knowledge & capacity for facilitating young Indigenous children’s language development in community contexts
* Thanks to SLP respondents and Sharla Peltier, Patricia Carey, Dr. Judith Johnston, Dr. Ken Moselle, Anne Hanson-Finger, Christina El Gazaar, Deanne Zeidler, Valerie Irvine and Kevin Morris.
Many Aboriginal groups in Canada are seeking to facilitate optimal development of Aboriginal children through high quality, culturally guided early childhood care and development programs (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996)
Negative effects of lack of service or ineffective and culturally discordant services (British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, 1996)
Survey of ‘SLP reflections on practice’SLPs across Canada were asked to complete a survey if they
had experience serving Indigenous children. The survey was
designed to learn more about: • access to services• appropriate training• appropriate tools and models (assessment
methods, service delivery models...)• readiness to work ‘in’ or ‘with’ community• perceived efficacy• needs• recommendations
Survey repondents were recruited through CASLPA and through provincial representatives.
Respondents
70 completed surveys were submitted on-line or by mail
27 long, 43 short 2 First Nations 3 visible minorities
Age - all respondentshad some experience working with Indigenous children under nine years of age
84% had worked with Indigenous children 0-5 years
37% reported spending ‘All’ or ‘A lot’ of their time working with Indigenous children in the past two years
29% reported spending ‘Some’ of their time in the past two years working with Indigenous children Location - respondents provided services almost equally in rural and remote communities and a bit less in urban communities
Age and location of children served; amount of service
Findings - Caveat
Generalizations must be taken cautiously
Lots of variability across children, families, Indigenous communities with regards to language development, experiences, beliefs, values and traditions
This is a study of SLP perceptions; a 2nd concurrent study involves interviewing First Nations Elders and parents for their views on supporting language development in ways they think are best
Readiness to work ‘in’ or ‘with’ community
SLPs perceived that their skills in language, social communication, pre-literacy and early literacy made them well suited forsupporting Indigenous children including:
normatively developing children children with delayed and disordered language children learning their Mother Tongue language children learning English as a second dialect.
HOWEVER... need to take an ‘altogether different approach’
SLP's Need to Take a Different Approach
YESNO
Cou
nt
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Survey question: “Do you think SLP’s need to take an altogether different approach when servingIndigenous communities?”
79% of respondents perceived a need ‘to take an altogether different approach’ when serving Indigenous communities
Approach
Five themes constructed from analyses of survey responses:
• Primacy of services being family & community driven
• Importance of including a population-based approach
• Goal of strengthening community capacity
• Perceptions of value of talk in Indigenous communities distinct from European-heritage orientation to language socialization
• Importance of building relationships and trust
Population-based and capacity building approach favored over direct clinical services
Median ratings on amount of time and effort: 1 = None /2 = Little /3 = Some /4 = Major
Amount of Time Spent in Different Types of Interventions with Indigenous Children and Families
Community education re: development of speech & language skills
Caregiver education to teach general facilitation techniques
Caregiver education re: needs of specific children
Mentoring and skill develop-ment training for caregivers
Indirect (mediator) model with collaborative consultation
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Direct group therapy
Direct clinical group training blending care- giver mentoring and SLP treatment
Direct one-to-one therapy
Recommended educational/intervention approaches to best suit cultural values, beliefs and priorities of Indigenous families
Median ratings on most appropriate educational/intervention approaches 1 = least suited/ 5 = most suited
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Community education re: development of speech & language skills
Caregiver education to teach general facilitation techniques
Caregiver education re: needs of specific children
Mentoring and skill development training for caregivers
Indirect (mediator) model with collaborative consultation
Direct group therapy
Direct clinical group training blending care- giver mentoring and SLP treatment
Direct one-to-one therapy
How SLP became engaged with Indigenous communities
SLP respondents were usually engaged in providing services as aresult of referral for individual children (69%);
Reflects perhaps a limited understanding in communities and agencies of the potential benefits of SLP contributions at a population-based, capacity-building level.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Request by worker in community for SLP services to agency
Request by worker in community for SLP services to particular children
Request by parent for SLP services to particular child(ren)
Request by outside party for SLP services to particular child(ren)
SLP initiated contact with representative of Indigenous community
Cou
nt
Family and community driven programs and services
64% of respondents reported on importance of:
developing and providing programs and services that are family and community driven
learning about cultural beliefs, practices and way of being of the families and communities served
being aware of diversity
Perceptions of the value of talk and language socialization practices
Recurrent themes in the perceptions of SLPs regarding
distinctive features in the social use of language were:
• a quiet and reflective nature in children appears to be preferred
by caregivers
• children present as quiet and reflective
• talk appears to be reserved for important matters in social interactions
a lot of talking as well as children initiating talking or asking questions is discouraged
children reluctant to talk with adults
reticent about answering questions
unlikely to talk about themselves
make minimal eye contact
engage in less frequent verbal dialogue and verbal turn taking experiences than European heritage children
listening and observing appear to be highly valued
children learn through
listening, observing,
doing and being included
in family and community
activities, more than by
verbally processing their
experiences and asking
questions.
parents hover less and encourage pre-school children’s self-directed play and peer group socialization more than language mediated adult-child interactions
children respond well to interactions involving doing things together, and to peer interaction
they respond well to
slower talk,
more pausing,
sharing information
and storytelling
characterized by some respondents as ‘late talkers’
parents believe that children will talk when they are ready
content, goals and fast-paced atmosphere in mainstream
preschool and school settings seem mismatched with Indigenous children’s experiences, understanding and expression
These perceptions are evocative of a
conceptual distinction made between
societies in which children are thought
to ‘grow up’ and those in which
children are ‘raised’ or ‘brought up’ parents who believe children must be
‘raised’ engage in a distinct set of verbalizations with their children
parents who believe children ‘grow up’ make fewer attempts at dialogue with their young child, and are less likely to prompt their child to recount events in order to practice verbal communication
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it for Indigenous parents and other caregivers that their young children learn their Mother Tongue?”
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Not Important 2 3 Very Important
Co
un
t
Important in Urban Settings Important in Rural Settings
Important in Remote Settings
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Not Important 2 3 Very Important
Co
un
t
Important in Urban Settings Important in Rural Settings
Important in Remote Settings
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it for Indigenous parents and other caregivers that their young children learn English or French?”
possible that SLPs infer low value on language learning as an interpretation of differences in the value of talk and socialization of language use (eg. high contrast, low frequency activity)
• Other evidence about Indigenous
people’s language use suggests that
talk is highly valued in particular
contexts, by particular people, with
particular intentions
• European-heritage parents tend to utilize and encourage frequent verbal discourse, including child-initiated discourse with adults, to serve a variety of functions (eg. low contrast, high frequency activity)
If there are indeed significant differences
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
parents’ language socialization and
expectations for their children’s talk,
then some respondents’ comments that
the content, goals and fast-paced
atmosphere in mainstream preschools
& school settings are mismatched
with Indigenous goals for children’s
language use and Indigenous children’s
quietness, are particularly meaningful.
Indeed, there may be a
strong cultural bias in
mainstream SLP practice, early
childhood education programs
and school-based practices
appreciate risks some
Indigenous parents may feel in
accessing mainstream
education, speech-language
programs, and other services.
• Aboriginal English described as main language of 80% of Aboriginal Australians
• differs from European-heritage English in its phonology, syntax, pragmatics, discourse structure and lexico-semantic system (Malcolm et al. 1999)
• similar differences reported by SLPs in current study
• educational difficulties faced by Aboriginal children in Australia
linked to cultural and linguistic differences between the home
and school (Walton 1993)
Relationship of findings to Aboriginal experience in Australia
Mother Tongue language
Mother Tongue typically not incorporated into SLP services if given help from speakers of a child’s Mother Tongue, wouldbe eager to incorporate it and could have a role in supporting children learning and using their Mother Tongue encourage parents to maintain their dominant language used at home; oftenis Mother Tongue, especially in ruraland remote areas cited positive contributions that learningMother Tongue can make to a child’s senseof connection to community and to self-esteem.
Inadequate funding and inappropriate services
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Inadequate 2 3 4 Adequate
Adequacy of ECD Services Adequacy of SLP Funding
Co
un
t
Respondents overwhelmingly indicated that funding for Early Childhood Development services and for SLP services are ‘inadequate’ in the settings that they have observed.
Need for new education and intervention strategies
Important to Create Education/Intervention Tools
Very Important432Not Important
Co
un
t
40
30
20
10
0
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it to create new educational/intervention tools specifically for Indigenous children?”
76% of the respondents perceived that it is important or very important to develop new education and intervention strategies specifically forIndigenous children
Need for new assessment tools
Important to Create New Assessment Tools
Very Important432Not Important
Co
un
t
30
20
10
0
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it to create new assessment tools specifically for Indigenous children?”
57% of respondents reported that it was important or very important to develop new assessment tools specifically for Indigenous children.
Need for new screening tools
Important to Create Screening Tools
Very Important432Not Important
Co
un
t
30
20
10
0
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it to create new screening tools specifically for Indigenous children?”
59% of respondents reported that it was important or very important to develop new screening tools specifically for Indigenous children
Need for new tools to monitor overall child development
Important to Create Development Monitoring Tools
very Important432Not Important
Co
un
t
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
SLP Evaluation: “How important is it to create new tools for monitoring overall child development specifically for Indigenous children?”
41% reported thatit was important or very important to develop new tools for monitoring overall child development
Knowledge capacity: Implications for training
At Outset Now
Generalcultural issues
Specificcultural issues
Unprepared &Very unprepared
54% 68% 14%
Moderately wellPrepared
20% 19% 40%
Well prepared &Very well prepared
25% 13% 44%
Improving knowledge to serve Indigenous families and communities in culturally
appropriate ways
To deliver more culturally
appropriate services, respondents
believed that it was:
• most important to learn from the
families being served
• also very important to learn from
representatives, Elders, Indigenous mentors within the Indigenous community as well as conferences and workshops
Cultural and language competencies of SLPs
• Requires working in collaboration and with support of one or more people in the community who are proficient or nearly proficient in the Native language/dialect and who are from the same cultural background as the client to be able to provide effective and culturally appropriate services (CASLPA, Speech Pathology Australia)
• 4% of respondents reported obtaining feedback from Indigenous peoples regarding tools they used for screening, 4% re assessment tools and 36% re intervention tools/methods (reflects missed opportunities for cultural guidance?)
Summary and conclusions
Taken together, descriptions by SLP respondents conveyed a
clear impression of the importance of: providing services that are driven by the values and wishes
of the families and communities in which the children live learning about and understanding the culture building capacity within families and communities establishing positive and trusting relationships with
Indigenous parents, caregivers and people trusted in the child’s community
Further research• Understand more about what Indigenous parents believe is
important for their children to learn and how
• What kinds of tools and training would be useful to help guide the practice of family and community driven services?
• Given the variability that exists within and across Indigenous communities, can tools and methods for screening, assessment and intervention that are reflective of Indigenous values, beliefs and experiences be developed?
• How might the professions of SLP and Audiology attract more Indigenous people to the professions?
SLP respondents in the current study consistently pointed to
the importance of establishing positive and trusting relationships
with Indigenous caregivers of Indigenous children, and with
people who are trusted within the Indigenous community to
which the child belongs. This requires: a consistent presence in the community patience time flexibility understanding a desire to learn
Positive and Trusting Relationships
For more information on this
and related studies:
ecdip.org
Dr. Jessica Ball: [email protected]
Marlene Lewis: [email protected]
Selected References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1985). Position Statement: Clinical Management of Communicatively Handicapped Minority Language Populations. Asha, 27 (6)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2004). Knowledge and Skills Needed by Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists to Provide Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services. ASHA Supplement 24 (in press).
Ball, J. (2002). The challenge of creating an optimal learning environment in child care: Cross-cultural perspectives. In L. Girolometto & E. Weitzman (Eds.) Enhancing caregiver language facilitation in child care settings. Proceedings from a Symposium of the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, Toronto, October 18, 2002.
British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS) (1996). Identification of barriers to post-secondary training and employment. Vancouver, BC.
Canadian Association of Speech-Langauge Pathologists and Audiologists (2002). CASLPA Position Paper on Speech-Langauge Pathology and Audiology in the Multicultural, Multilingual Context. http://www.caslpa.ca/english/resources/multicult.asp
Chao, R. (1996). Chinese and European American mothers’ beliefs about the role of parenting in children’s school success. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 27, 403-423.
Crago, M. (1992). Ethnography and language socialization: A cross-cultural perspective. Topics in Language Disorders, 12(3), 28-39.
Heath, S. (1983). Ways with words: Language, Life and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johnston, J., & Wong, M.-Y. A. (2002). Cultural Differences in Beliefs and Practices Concerning Talk to Children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45.
Malcolm, I., Haig, Y., Konigsberg, P., Rochecouste, J., Collard, G., Hill,A., & Cahill, R. (1999a). ‘Two way English. Towards more user-friendly education for speakers of Aboriginal English. ‘ Perth: Education Department of Western Australia.
Malcolm, I., Haig, Y., Konigsberg, P., Rochecouste, J., Collard, G., Hill,A., & Cahill, R. (1999b). ‘Towards more user-friendly education for speakers of Aboriginal English.’ Perth: Centre for Applied Language and Literacy Research.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996). Gathering strength: Report on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Vol. 13. Ottawa: Canada Communication Group Publishing.
Speech Pathology Australia. Speech Pathologists working in Early Intervention Programs with Aboriginal Australians. Fact Sheet 2.4.
Walton, C., (1993). ‘Aboriginal education in Northern Australia: A case study of literacy policies and practices’ In P. Freebody & A. R. Welch (Eds.). ‘Knowledge, culture and power: international perspectives on literacy as policy and practice.’ Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Van Kleek, A,. (1994). Potential cultural bias in training parents as conversational partners with their children who have delays in language development. American Journal of Speech‑Language Pathology, January, 67‑78.
Warr-Leeper, G.A. (2001). A review of early intervention programs and effectiveness research for environmentally disadvantaged children. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 25(2), 89-102.
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