Developmental language disorder and bilingualism – warning signs

Developmental Language Disorder Awareness Day (TDL) which is celebrated on October 14, 2022 , leads me to share valuable tools and information with you in order to help my colleagues continue to serve this vulnerable clientele.

Firstly, it is important to understand why this clientele is vulnerable.

In general, there are risks of over-identification and under-identification of allophones, bilinguals, or multilinguals in speech therapy.

For what?

For the most part, preschool children are subject to persistent myths about their language development, which often lead to them being under-identified. There's still a tendency to recommend waiting before intervening because they are said to "learn more slowly" or "be confused" due to exposure to more than one language. However, we know this information is false, and this can lead to delayed intervention or even a complete lack of it.

Conversely, school-aged children tend to be over-identified due to difficulties that may manifest academically. However, we know that literary or Tier 2 vocabulary (Beck et al., 2003) and grammatical morphemes can take 7 to 10 years to develop. These skills are linked to academic success, and when a student experiences difficulties at school, in many cases it is often because they are still acquiring the more complex skills of the language of instruction, and not due to the presence of a pathological disorder.

The important information to remember regarding any child acquiring a second language is:

• He is not immune to developing a language disorder just like a monolingual child;
• There is no greater incidence of SLD among allophones, bilinguals or multilinguals than among monolinguals;
• A child with a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) will exhibit difficulties in both languages

Here are also some key points to remember to help you distinguish between a student with a learning disability and a student acquiring a second language.

A child who acquires a second language may exhibit the following characteristics:

• Difficulty with attention and concentration;
• Using gestures rather than verbal language;
• Disorganization and confusion;
• Difficulty following instructions;
• Need for frequent repetition;
• Difficulty using precise vocabulary;
• Average length of statements too short.

These characteristics often lead to over-identification.

Are there any characteristics that are red flags or warning signs that could indicate a real language disorder?

Indeed, the following characteristics might justify further investigation, as they are not typically expected:

• Family history of language disorder or learning disability;
• Difficulty acquiring language at a normal speed or even with adult assistance;
• Communication difficulties within the family;
• Difficulty interacting with peers of the same culture/origin;
• Inappropriate socio-pragmatic skills (e.g., turn-taking, theory of mind, non-verbal communication).

As a general rule, of course, our work as speech therapists always requires us to qualify information and use our clinical judgment.