TY - JOUR
T1 - Caregiver Experiences With Oral Bilingualism in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the United States
T2 - Impact on Child Language Proficiency
AU - Benítez-Barrera, Carlos
AU - Reiss, Lina
AU - Majid, Marjan
AU - Chau, Trisha
AU - Wilson, Johanna
AU - Rico, Erika Figueroa
AU - Bunta, Ferenc
AU - Raphael, Robert M.
AU - de Diego-Lázaro, Beatriz
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Purpose: Best practices recommend promoting the use of the home language and allowing caregivers to choose the language(s) that they want to use with their child who is deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). We examined whether Spanish-speaking caregivers of children who are DHH receive professional recommendations on oral bilingualism that follow best practices. We also assessed whether professional recommendations, caregiver beliefs, and language practices had an impact on child language(s) proficiency. Method: Sixty caregivers completed a questionnaire on demographic questions, language(s) use and recommendations, beliefs on bilingualism, and child language proficiency measures in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language (ASL). Professional recommendations on oral bilingualism were reported descrip-tively, and linear regression was used to identify the predictors of child lan-guage(s) proficiency. Results: We found that only 23.3% of the caregivers were actively encouraged to raise their child orally bilingual. Language practices predicted child proficiency in each language (English, Spanish, and ASL), but professional recommendations and caregiver beliefs did not. Conclusions: Our results revealed that most caregivers received recommendations that do not follow current best practices. Professional training is still needed to promote bilingualism and increase cultural competence when providing services to caregivers who speak languages different from English. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21644846.
AB - Purpose: Best practices recommend promoting the use of the home language and allowing caregivers to choose the language(s) that they want to use with their child who is deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). We examined whether Spanish-speaking caregivers of children who are DHH receive professional recommendations on oral bilingualism that follow best practices. We also assessed whether professional recommendations, caregiver beliefs, and language practices had an impact on child language(s) proficiency. Method: Sixty caregivers completed a questionnaire on demographic questions, language(s) use and recommendations, beliefs on bilingualism, and child language proficiency measures in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language (ASL). Professional recommendations on oral bilingualism were reported descrip-tively, and linear regression was used to identify the predictors of child lan-guage(s) proficiency. Results: We found that only 23.3% of the caregivers were actively encouraged to raise their child orally bilingual. Language practices predicted child proficiency in each language (English, Spanish, and ASL), but professional recommendations and caregiver beliefs did not. Conclusions: Our results revealed that most caregivers received recommendations that do not follow current best practices. Professional training is still needed to promote bilingualism and increase cultural competence when providing services to caregivers who speak languages different from English. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21644846.
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U2 - 10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00095
DO - 10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00095
M3 - Article
C2 - 36472940
AN - SCOPUS:85146484371
SN - 0161-1461
VL - 54
SP - 224
EP - 240
JO - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
JF - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
IS - 1
ER -