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Re: ESL and Stuttering (part 2)

From: Nan Ratner
Date: 10/15/01
Time: 9:39:02 AM
Remote Name: 129.2.25.203

Comments

Andy, that's a good question, and while you already answered it ("it depends!")in some sense, here are a few things to consider: From the language perspective, there seems to be little doubt that language stress can aggravate stuttering, be it in one language or another. These stresses may cause different profiles of stuttering (on different types or locations of words) as I and others have written, in bilingual speakers, depending upon the structural characteristics of the language being spoken. For instance, sounds stuttered in one language are often not the same as those stuttered in another, while there may be more consistent difficulty with certain parts of speech or grammatical constructions. There are varied reports of stuttering being either better or worse in a second language being learned. In some cases, the amount of deliberation taken before speaking in a less familiar language may help fluency, while the grammatical load may make things worse in other circumstances. I think it is important to consider OTHER factors in a bilingual or ESL child's stuttering when considering treatment options. For example, Brian Humphry did a nice paper at the 1999 ASHA convention that showed that generalization of treatment carried out in one language was relatively poor to the other language. I interpret this to indicate that the therapist must consider affective and cognitive factors that may impede the child's ability to use skills in certain environments, as well as pure generalization concerns. So, if one environment is more accepting and helpful than another, or if the child is less comfortable in one speaking situation than another, we might not expect equal fluency or transition between treatment and "real-world" gains. I will stop here, but it is clear that we need more work on this topic because of the growing number of children in our schools for whom English is a second language.

best regards to all, Nan


Last changed: September 14, 2005