ACQ Vol 11 No 1 2009

MULTICULTURALISM AND DYSPHAGIA

Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1999). The comprehensive test of phonological processing . Austin, TX: PRO- ED Inc. Wetherby, A. M., & Prizant, B. (2002). Communication and symbolic behaviour scales: Developmental profile . Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Wiig E., Secord W., &. Semel, E. (2006). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals preschool , Australian standardised edition (2nd ed.). Marickville, NSW: Harcourt Assessment Inc.

Correspondence to: Laura Conway ELVS Research Coordinator Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Department of Speech Pathology Royal Children’s Hospital Flemington Road, Parkville, VIC 3052 phone: 03 9345 5484 email: laura.conway@mcri.edu.au

Language development in Australian bilingual children Ruth Nicholls

I t has been estimated that more than half of the world’s population speak more than one language. Over 4 million Australians speak a language other than English, with almost 400 languages spoken around the country. Despite the increasing number of Australian children being raised in multilingual environments, little is known about how these children learn English. How does the language development of children learning English and another language (bilingual) compare with children learning English only (monolingual)? Is their development of English similar or are there differences? If so, what do the pathways and patterns in their development look like? In 2005, a study investigating the language development of bilingual children growing up in Australia was embedded within ELVS (described above). The aim of the study was to better understand the natural development of English morphology by children simultaneously learning English and another language during the preschool years. Ruth Nicholls, PhD candidate at The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, is undertaking the study. All participants in ELVS who were hearing and/or speaking another language were invited to join the study. Seventy-four bilingual children, learning a diverse mixture of 34 languages in addition to English, agreed to participate, along with a closely matched group of 74 monolingual children from ELVS. All of these children were visited in their homes, located around metropolitan Melbourne, for an initial assessment between June and December 2006 when aged 3;4 years. These visits involved an interview with the bilingual children’s parents (to find out about the children’s exposure and use of their languages) and direct assessment of the children’s English morphology using selected components of the Rice/ Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI) (Rice & Wexler, 2001) and the Wiig Criterion-Referenced Inventory of Language (CRIL) (Wiig, 1990) – as well as endless turns of a wooden fishing game which the children loved and continually requested! Those bilingual children who were learning the languages most frequently represented in this study (Cantonese, Croatian, Greek, Macedonian, Mandarin, Turkish and Viet­ namese) were then invited to participate in two further assess­ ments (at ages 3;10 and 4;4 respectively), along with their matched controls. In total, three assessments were conducted at 6-month intervals to measure and track each child’s

development over this 12-month period. These assessments were completed in December 2007, bringing the 19 months of assessments and hundreds of fishing expeditions to a close. Data analyses have been conducted, with national and international interest in this unique study. Preliminary findings were most recently presented at Reflecting Connections, the joint conference between the New Zealand Speech- Language Therapists Association and Speech Pathology Australia in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2008 and at the 12th Congress of the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2008. This study will contribute to a greater understanding of bilingual language development. This will benefit speech pathologists and health and education professionals who work with children and families from diverse multilingual backgrounds, within local, national and international contexts. References Rice, M. L., & Wexler, K. (2001). Rice/Wexler test of early gram­ matical impairment . New York: The Psychological Corporation. Wiig, E. H. (1990). Wiig criterion-referenced inventory of language . San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation. Acknowledgments Nadia Verrall Memorial Research Grant, Speech Pathology Australia; Melbourne Research Scholarship, The University of Melbourne; Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Scholarship.

Ruth Nicholls

Ruth Nicholls is a speech pathologist and PhD candidate, with clinical and research experience in paediatric language development. Correspondence to: Ruth Nicholls Speech Pathologist 5th Floor Speech Pathology Department Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, VIC 3052 phone: 03 9090 5264 email: r.nicholls@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au Visit www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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