Supporting Malaysian Children's Speech & Language Development Across Diverse Languages and Cultures

Abstract

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) assess, diagnose, treat and help prevent communication disorders. In Malaysia, every client has a linguistic repertoire that is specific to their own ethnic and cultural background, which adds complexity for SLPs when conducting assessments and providing interventions for their clients. The purpose of this study is to understand how Malaysian SLPs achieve culturally and linguistically responsive services in the context of this distinct multicultural and multilingual environment. Verdon and her team of researchers (2015) found 6 overarching principles of cultural competence practice (PCCP) in which clinicians across the world achieved culturally and linguistically responsive services in their study; however Malaysian SLPs were not a part of this study. For this current study, Malaysian SLPs will be recruited and interviewed by the research team. The interview will consist of questions designed to understand the assessment and intervention practices used to support children’s speech and language across diverse languages and cultures. The project summary will consist of themes developed from coded responses based on PCCPs suggested by existing research. Participant responses that do not fall into one of these categories will be coded inductively. Results will help to better understand culturally and linguistically responsive practices in the field of speech pathology.