JCPSLP Vol 19 No 1 March 2017

Communication and connection: Valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives

Yarning Assessing proppa ways Tara Lewis, Anne E. Hill, Chelsea Bond, and Alison Nelson

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

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,

KEYWORDS ABORIGINAL ASSESSMENT SPEECH- LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY YARNING

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PEER- REVIEWED

Tara Lewis (top) and Anne E. Hill

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 1 2017

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology