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56 JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 1 2012 Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
Standard Australian English (SAE) within the broader
Australian community. Contrastive methods demonstrate
interactions between languages or dialects, and areas of
overlap that may influence diagnostic decisions (Kohnert,
2010; Stockman, 2010). The SALT database (Miller &
Iglesias, 2008) provided a simple point of reference from
which to explore relative strengths and differences in a
context where Australian children are commonly compared
to overseas norms. It is acknowledged that terminology
such as “zero copula” are commonly used in comparative
dialectal literature while terms such as “omission of the
copula” are more appropriate to description of language
impairment in SAE.
Contrastive methods may identify and differentiate
learning goals for acquisition of SAE as a second dialect
(often at school) from those required to develop AE (often
at home). The ability to effectively code switch between
AE and SAE is essential to maintain culture and to “close
the gap” and facilitate access to employment and higher
education. The tension here is “how do we attend to
upholding and maintaining cultural difference while
producing outcomes that allow Indigenous Australian
students to participate on an equal footing in mainstream
society?” (Warren & Young, 2008, p. 130). Further research
and clinical reports are needed to identify methods of
assessment that do not disadvantage Indigenous children
and clarify how speech pathologists can best support
efforts to improve educational and health outcomes for
Indigenous children.
References
Cahir, P. (2011). Examining culturally valid language
assessments for Indigenous children. ACQuiring Knowledge
in Speech, Language and Hearing, 13(3), 120–125.
Kohnert, K. (2010). Bilingual children with primary
language impairment: Issues, evidence and implications for
clinical actions. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43,
456–473. doi: 10.1016/j.comdis.2010.02.002
Miller, J. F., & Iglesias, A. (2008). Systematic Analysis of
Language Transcripts (SALT) (Research Version 2008)
[Computer software]. Madison, WI: Language Analysis
Laboratory.
Pearce, W., & Stockings, E. (2011). Oral narratives
produced by Australian Aboriginal children: Dilemmas with
normative comparisons. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech,
Language and Hearing, 13(3), 126–131.
Stockman, I. J. (2010). A review of developmental and
applied language research on African American children:
From a deficit to difference perspective on dialect
differences. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in
Schools, 41, 23–38.
Warren, E., & Young, J. (2008). Oral language,
representations and mathematical understanding:
Indigenous Australian students. Australian Journal of
Indigenous Education, 37, 130–137.
Williams, C. (2011). Working with children from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds: Implications for
assessment and intervention. ACQuiring Knowledge in
Speech, Language and Hearing, 13 (3), 106–111.
Dr Wendy Pearce
Senior Lecturer in Speech Pathology
James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland
email:
and exploring their first language abilities (Gould, 2008;
Philpott, 2003), as well as a multitude of work by linguists
around the country (Simpson & Wigglesworth, 2010). For
those who are doing this work, it is important that they
share it with our peers and continue the discussion and
debate. This issue of ACQ has definitely given me the
motivation I need to do this.
References
Cahir, P. (2011). Examining culturally valid language
assessments for Indigenous children. ACQuiring Knowledge
in Speech, Language and Hearing, 13(3), 120–125.
Gould, J. (2008). Non-standard assessment practices
in the evaluation of communication in Australian Aboriginal
children. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22(8): 643–657.
Philpott, M. (2003). The Revised Kimberley Early
Language Scales. Retrieved from http:/www.
Simpson, J., & Wigglesworth, G. (Eds.) (2008). Children’s
language and multilingualism: Indigenous language use at
home and school. London: Continuum.
Williams, C. (2011). Working with children from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds: Implications for
assessment and intervention. ACQuiring Knowledge in
Speech, Language and Hearing, 13(3), 106–111.
Claire Salter
Speech Pathologist
email:
Response to letters to the editor regarding
Pearce and Stockings (2011)
I thank the editors for this opportunity to respond to this
correspondence and anticipate the topic will benefit from
robust discussion. The correspondents’ concerns echo the
findings of Pearce and Stockings (2011) that current
language assessment approaches may not be suitable for
Indigenous children. One correspondent rightly argues that
Aboriginal English (AE) norms make more appropriate
comparisons, but comprehensive language sampling norms
are currently unavailable for Australian populations.
Establishment of norms for each AE variety across remote,
rural, and urban locations is a major challenge. Evidence to
support or disprove assessment and intervention practices
for Indigenous children is limited (Cahir, 2011; Williams,
2011) while much knowledge about effective practices is
contained within the experience of clinicians and
organisations. Publication of research showing how
Indigenous children perform on existing language
assessment protocols provides empirical evidence for
concerns about assessment approaches, clarifies
methodologies, and identifies directions for future research.
Both independent and contrastive approaches to
research are informative and valid. Independent approaches
to language research, supported by the correspondents,
explore competence within the child’s own language
system and cultural context. In such approaches, AE is
considered as a unique language system within each
Indigenous Australian community. Contrastive methods
compare one language system to another, and develop
knowledge where two or more languages or dialects are
spoken or co-exist within a community. Here, AE may be
considered as a non-standard dialect co-existing with