ACQ Vol 11 No 1 2009

MULTICULTURALISM AND DYSPHAGIA

S peech P athology in the C ontext of C ultural and L inguistic D iversity Working with people from an Arabic background Samar Al-amawi, Alison Ferguson, and Sally Hewat

This article has been peer-reviewed

Speech and language assessment for the Arabic popu­ lation who experience communication disorders may present as a challenge for speech pathologists in Aus­ tralia. Language diversity is not the only issue that makes it difficult to deal with such patients; cultural diversity and the role of the interpreter mediating the interaction between the speech pathologist and the bilingual patient also play a part. This paper provides a brief review of cultural and linguistic diversity in Australia, and dis­ cusses the need for more speech pathology research focusing on specific populations such as the Arabic population. The paper identifies some of the major Arabic cultural issues (habits, behaviours, beliefs and customs) that need to be taken into consideration by the English- speaking speech pathologist who is working with Arabic patients, and suggests the need for cross-cultural training to be provided for speech pathologists working with an Arabic population.

Samar Al-amawi, Alison Ferguson, and Sally Hewat

Few studies have focused on how the English-speaking speech pathologist can best provide services for bilinguals (Roger, Code & Sheard, 1996; 2000), and how speech pathologists can improve their skills for dealing with such patients. Even fewer studies have focused on providing speech pathology services for Arabic patients with communi­ cative disorders and what could be valid assessment tools to assess their language abilities in the context of linguistic and cultural diversity. Isaac (2002) stated that there has been relatively little research and literature giving consideration to multicultural perspectives in clinical practice: “research is needed in SLP to substantiate the (probably valid) assumptions we often make about our clinical procedures and polices” (p. 123). She reported that many speech pathologists have their own clinical tools and procedures for assessing or treating patients from cultural and linguistic minority backgrounds and that these resources have not been clinically trialled or widely distributed. Battle (2000) also has stated that limited contemporary Arabic, Urdu, and other language tools and instruments exist and few have been standardised on Arabic speakers (Butler, 1989; Crago, 1990). She also reports that Wiig and El-Halees (2000) have developed an objective, culturally and linguistically authentic Arabic language-screening test for children between 3 and 12 years. This new test was challenging to develop because of the diversity among Arabic speakers’ dialects, the diversity of their cultures, and the paucity of information about the speech and language develop­ ment in Arabic-speaking children. This test was developed to be used with children in Jordan and Palestine, so it is not clear whether it will be useful for work with Arabic children from other Arabic countries because of dialectal diversity. Given that the few available materials may not be appropriate for all Arabic speakers, how might the English-speaking speech pathologist use the available materials to assess Arabic patients here in Australia? To only provide speech pathology services for the Arabic population by Arabic-speaking speech

Keywords: aphasia assessment and treatment, Arabic population, bilingual, interpreters, linguistic and cultural diversity

A ustralia is a country which defines itself as a multicultural nation; this is due to the relatively large number of immigrants who have settled in the country since colonisation. Of those immigrants who are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, many will continue to have poor English language proficiency for a considerable period, especially if they were older at the time of their migration. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006), almost 400 different languages were spoken in homes across Australia in 2006. Close to 79% of Australia’s population spoke only English at home, a decrease from 82% in 1996, indicating that 21% of Australia’s population were using a language other than English at home. The top five languages spoken at home (other than English) were Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic and Mandarin. Fifty per cent of Australians in 2006 had at least one parent born overseas and 22.2% identified themselves as born overseas. The top five countries of birth (other than Australia) were England, New Zealand, China, Italy and Vietnam. There is an increasing body of literature in speech- language pathology that discusses the issues, challenges and opportunities that are relevant for the practice of speech pathology for these populations (Battle, 2000; Isaac, 2002; Roberts, 1998). This paper will discuss issues in relation to working with children and adults from an Arabic background, as it is suggested that more needs to be known about how best to provide speech pathology services to this culturally and linguistically diverse population.

ACQ uiring knowledge in sp eech , language and hearing , Volume 11, Number 1 2009

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