2005–2006 Projects on Multicultural Activities

Developing a Resource CD-ROM for Teaching Multicultural Issues and for Spanish-Speaking Populations
Katsura Aoyama
Texas Tech University

The objective of this project was to develop a resource CD-Rom to 1) teach a multicultural issues course in speech-language pathology and audiology at a university level, and 2) compile resources for Spanish-speaking populations for clients and professionals specifically for the West Texas area. Personnel compiled a teaching guide and a list of materials that can be useful in illustrating such issues as social dialects, bilingualism, and cultural diversity. Audio- and video-recordings were made and included for instructional purposes. Forms were translated into Spanish as were trouble-shooting instructions for hearing aids, instructions for auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, and electronystagmography (ENG) test as were instructions for a balance test, hearing screening, and oral mechanism examination. Audio-recordings of the instructions were also provided in Spanish. Professional resources include characteristics of Spanish-influenced English, typical course of speech and language development in Spanish, bilingual language acquisition, suggested intervention activities that are locally and culturally appropriate for Spanish-speaking populations, and tips for working with interpreters and translators.

Language and Literacy Skills Among African American Children: A Pilot Study
Tempii Champion and Ruth Bahr
University of South Florida

An objective of the project was to collect and analyze data reflecting language and literacy skills of African American (AA) children in order to better understand relationships among vocabulary skills and other literacy predictors as they reflect reading achievement. Results provided information for practicing clinicians and teachers working with AA children that was used in the development of culturally sensitive literacy programs.

The research questions for this study were:

• Does vocabulary test performance in AA children differ when using receptive or expressive elicitation tasks in Kindergarten, second and fourth grade?
• Do the PPVT-III and the EVT differ in the amount of cultural specific knowledge needed to interpret test items and does this ability differ by grade?
• How do these measures relate to other forms of reading achievement that focus on more comprehensive assessments of comprehension and decoding skills?

Recognizing that there is a critical shortage of PhD faculty in communication sciences and disorders, the second objective of the project was to provide research training to an African American doctoral student as she completed her PhD training.

Outcomes for African Americans with Chronic Non-Fluent Aphasia
Gloriajean L. Wallace
University of Cincinnati

African Americans have a disproportionately higher rate of stroke than the population-at-large. African Americans are also likely to have comparatively different and more severe stroke profiles and less favorable stroke outcomes. This is because of well documented differences in age at stroke onset, vascular territories affected by stroke, type of stroke, and complexity of the overall medical profile (particularly for African American females). Health and rehabilitation service-related disparities may also have a negative impact on stroke profiles and outcomes in this population.

The long range objective of this research was to enhance functional outcomes/quality of life for all people with chronic aphasia after stroke and respond to the research question- Is there a significant difference in the number of African Americans with chronic nonfluent aphasia who have negative versus positive outcomes/quality of life status profiles at 12- 18 months post ischemic stroke, and are observed differences a function of gender?

Preliminary results suggested that general judgments about quality of life (QOL) as measured by the ASHA QOL may not be impacted by race/ethnicity. Conversational compensation (as measured by the RAINBO D-CAP) may be better for African Americans with aphasia than for Caucasian Americans with aphasia. Quality of life as gauged from reports on the RAINBO PPPFA about activities of daily living (ADLs) and lifestyle (fullness of lifestyle, and self rating about quality of lifestyle and satisfaction with lifestyle) were better for African Americans than Caucasian Americans. Differences in religiosity across the two groups and the support that involvement in faith-based organizations may provide are the likely contributors to observed differences noted on the RAINB PPPFA.

Phonological Development of Bilingual Spanish and English Speaking Children
Adele W. Miccio and Carol Scheffner Hammer
Penn State University

Because of the ever increasing population of bilingual children in the United States, there is a need for more information on the course of typical phonological development in bilingual children so that speech-language pathologists can better identify those children in need of services. The longitudinal course of phonological acquisition in bilingual children is not well known. As a consequence, speech language pathologists depend upon information on monolingual Spanish-speaking children as well as monolingual English developmental norms. Because information on monolingual children is not sensitive to developmental differences between monolingual and bilingual acquisition, bilingual children are often identified as having a disorder when their development is following a different, but not disorder pathway. Other times, bilingual children with linguistic difficulties are overlooked due to fear of over identification of disorders in children whose first language is not English.

The purpose of this study was to gather further developmental phonological data on children from ages 6½ years to 7 years. Objectives were to 1) document the longitudinal course of Spanish and English phonological development of bilingual children, and 2) describe the differences in developmental phonological mismatches and patterns of change between bilingual children with home English exposure and children with school English exposure. Clinicians may use the data for diagnostic purposes as well as for planning intervention for bilingual children.

2005–2006 Review Panel: Rhoda Agin, Deborah Hwa-Froelich, Soloris Greene, Linda McCabe Smith and Rose Sevcik