Transfer of speech production skills across languages in speech treatment for bilingual children

What is it about?

This study examines the use of complexity-based target selection procedures, specifically selecting consonant clusters, as treatment targets in Spanish via teletherapy. The results showed improvements in both children's production accuracy for their treatment targets with generalization to various consonant clusters and consonants. The improvements were observed not only in Spanish but also in English, indicating a transfer of skills across languages. The study suggests that phonological complexity can drive growth across the phonological system in teletherapy conducted in Spanish. The outcomes a clinically significant treatment effect in both languages. The study also explores the nature of generalization in a clinical context and suggests that treatment-induced transfer can occur across languages, even when the structures are not directly analogous. The results indicate that interventions targeting complex phonology can lead to broad changes in the phonological system across languages.

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Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study provides evidence for the efficacy of teletherapy interventions targeting complex consonant clusters in Spanish for bilingual children with speech sound disorders. The findings support the use of complexity-based approaches and highlight the potential for system-wide growth in both the treated and non-treated languages. This information can guide speech and language therapists/speech-language pathologists in developing effective intervention strategies for bilingual children, leading to improved clinical outcomes. The results also reveal system-wide transfer of skills across languages in speech therapy. It demonstrates that treatment effects can extend beyond the targeted language and result in broader phonological growth in both the treated language (Spanish) and the non-treated language (English). This finding has implications for designing interventions that can facilitate cross-linguistic transfer and improve speech sound production in bilingual children.