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124 ACQ Volume 13, Number 3 2011 ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing
performance in school-age children with and without
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of phonological memory or long-term knowledge? It all
depends on the nonwords. Memory and Cognition, 23,
83–94.
Gould, J. (2008a). The effects of language assessment
policies in speech-language pathology on the educational
experiences of Indigenous students. Current Issues in
Language Planning, 9(3), 299–316.
Gould, J. (2008b). Language difference or language
disorder: Discourse sampling in speech pathology
assessments for Indigenous children. In J. Simpson
& G. Wigglesworth (Eds.), Children’s language and
multilingualism: Indigenous language use at home and
school (pp. 194–215). London: Continuum.
Gould, J. (2008c). Non-standard assessment practices
in the evaluation of communication in Australian Aboriginal
children. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22(8): 643–657.
Guttiérrez-Clellen, V., & Peña, E. (2001). Dynamic
assessment of diverse children. Language, Speech, and
Hearing Services in Schools, 32, 212–224.
Guttiérrez-Clellen, V., Restrepo, M., & Simon-Cereijido,
G. (2006). Evaluating the discriminant accuracy of a
grammatical measure with Spanish-speaking children.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49,
1209–1223.
Guttiérrez-Clellen, V., & Simon-Cereijido, G. (2010). Using
nonword repetition tasks for the identification of language
impairment in Spanish-English-speaking children: Does
the language of assessment matter? Learning Disabilities
Research and Practice, 25, 48–58.
Jones, C. &, Campbell Nangari, J. (2008). Issues in
the assessment of children’s oral skills. In J. Simpson
& G. Wigglesworth (Eds.), Children’s language and
multilingualism: Indigenous language use at home and
school (pp. 175–193). London: Continuum.
Kaplan, R.B. (1972). Cultural thought patterns in inter-
cultural education. In K. Croft (Ed.), Readings on English as
a second language: For teachers and teacher trainees (pp.
245–262). Cambridge: Winthrop Publishers.
Kramer, K., Mallett, P., Schneider, P., & Hayward, D.
(2009). Dynamic assessment of narratives with grade 3
children in a First Nations community. Canadian Journal
of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 33(3),
119–128.
Kritikos, E. (2003). Speech-language pathologists’
beliefs about language assessment of bilingual/bicultural
individuals. American Journal of Speech–Language
Pathology, 12, 73–91.
Lowell, A., Gurimangu, Nyomba, & Yingi (1996). Yolngu
ways of helping their children: Communication at home and
at school in an Australian Aboriginal community. Australian
Communication Quarterly, Summer 1996/97, 20–22.
Malcolm, I.G. (2010, July). Learning Standard
Australian English: What do we mean? Paper presented
to the colloquium at the 35th Annual Congress of the
Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, University of
Queensland.
Marchman, V., & Martinez-Sussman, C. (2002).
Concurrent validity of caregiver/parent report measures
of language for children who are learning both English
and Spanish. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 45, 983–997.
Conclusion
Language measurement of culturally and linguistically
diverse populations is subject to a number of biases
including content, linguistic, and cultural bias. These
limitations render a standardised assessment invalid.
Nonetheless, standardised tests are used by Sps
worldwide regardless of their known shortcomings (Carter
et al., 2005; Döpke, 2003). This has resulted in years of
misclassification (over- or under-identification) of language
disorders in Indigenous CALD children (Gould, 2008c;
Ukrainetz et al., 2000).
In this era of evidence based speech pathology practice,
it is the discipline’s obligation to ensure appropriate and
ethical (i.e., valid and reliable) measurement of language
abilities in any population. This report considers a number
of different approaches to providing valid language
assessment for Indigenous populations, with particular
reference to Indigenous Australian populations. One
frequently cited limitation to valid assessment is the lack of
cultural and linguistic developmental norms. Fortunately,
projects such as the Aboriginal Child Language Acquisition
(ACLA) study (see Simpson and Wigglesworth, 2008) are
taking steps to narrow this gap in speech pathologists’
knowledge. In the meantime, it is suggested that the
best resource for valid assessment is found in community
consultation. Finally, it is hoped that this synopsis inspires
Sps to collaborate with other experts in cross-cultural
communication to develop these ideas further and to help
“close the gap”.
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