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Communication and connection: Valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
14
JCPSLP
Volume 19, Number 1 2017
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
KEYWORDS
ABORIGINAL
ASSESSMENT
SPEECH-
LANGUAGE
PATHOLOGY
YARNING
adequate set of data to inform diagnosis and intervention
for children who speak Standard Australian English.
Traditionally, the processes followed in speech and
language assessments adhere to a standard methodology
of assessment. Assessments follow western values and
world-views of communication (Pearce & Williams, 2013),
are usually conducted in Standard Australian English, and
are one on one with the speech pathologist and child. In
addition, the child is asked numerous direct questions to
ascertain their communication abilities (Hegde & Pomaville,
2008) in an environment that is removed from their natural
context (Ball, 2009). For an Aboriginal child, this standard
assessment methodology may be foreign and may not
cater for their cultural experiences and world-view.
Limitations to current SLP practice
In light of these concerns, there has been recent research
revealing difficulty in using standardised assessment tools
and methodology with Aboriginal children (Gould, 2008a,
2008b; Malcolm, 2011; Pearce & Williams, 2013). The
assessment tools utilised are normed on the monolingual
mainstream population and speakers of English as a
second language or speakers of English dialects are often
excluded from the sample cohort (Pearce & Williams, 2013).
The assessment tools are inherently western in nature in
that they portray the experiences of Australian, American,
and English cultures and languages (Pearce & Williams,
2010). Rarely are factors such as the cultural, linguistic,
historical, sociopolitical, and educational contexts of
Aboriginal people represented within the assessment tools.
For example, the Renfrew Action Picture Test (Renfrew,
2003) is administered in a way that promotes a western
world-view of storytelling, and seeks Standard English word
usage and sentence structure from the child. The child is
expected to sit down, look at the pictures and explain what
is happening through responding to direct questions. For
an Aboriginal child, a question/answer format does not
constitute storytelling; storytelling relies on a shared
relationship and understanding and incorporates Aboriginal
lore and learnings. In order to explain what is happening in
a picture or story, as Malcolm (2000) states, a child must
have a cultural script or schema that can support their
explanations.
Not only is there evidence to suggest current assessment
tools may be problematic for use with Aboriginal children,
there is emerging evidence demonstrating the potential
bias in the way assessments are conducted with Aboriginal
children (Gould, 2008a; Malcolm, 2011; Pearce & Williams,
Current speech-language pathology (SLP)
assessment methodology and tools privilege
western values and world-views of
communication and often lead to
misdiagnosis of Aboriginal children’s speech
and language abilities. Understanding,
recognising and valuing the importance
Aboriginal people place on communication
may support speech-language pathologists in
conducting culturally responsive
assessments and in providing client support.
This paper highlights the importance of
changing traditional SLP assessment
methodologies to incorporate Aboriginal
ways of communicating through a new
methodology called
assessment yarning
. The
absence of culturally responsive assessment
methodologies such as yarning not only
increases the risk of mis-/over-diagnosis of
speech/language impairment but also
reproduces certain racial hierarchical
arrangements whereby Aboriginal language/
communication styles are framed as
inherently deficient and inferior. Of most
importance is the need to ensure that
knowledge of communication difference
translates to proper assessment and care for
Aboriginal children and their families.
I
n Australia, many speech-language pathologists (SLPs)
regard normed and criterion referenced assessment
tools and methodology as the gold standard for
collecting data pertaining to a child’s overall speech and
language abilities. These are utilised in part to differentiate
between typically developing children and those with
language delay or impairment (Haynes & Pindzola, 2008).
Assessment of speech and language skills focuses on
“typical” acquisition of a range of constructs such as the
use of a broad inventory of speech sounds, understanding
and use of a range of grammatical constructions including
pronouns, verbs, and complex sentences, and receptive
and expressive vocabulary (Hegde & Pomaville, 2008).
These assessment tools and methodologies will yield an
Yarning
Assessing proppa ways
Tara Lewis, Anne E. Hill, Chelsea Bond, and Alison Nelson
Tara Lewis (top)
and Anne E. Hill
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