Peer reviewedERIC Number: EJ704117
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0271-8294
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Multicultural-Multilingual Group Sessions: Development of Functional Communication
Larroude, Bettina
Topics in Language Disorders, v24 n2 p137 Apr-Jun 2004
Group therapy with multilingual, multicultural populations is a challenging and unexplored area that is beginning to be addressed because of the growing population of multilingual, multicultural children. In this article, the importance of working with children from different cultural backgrounds, and current research on bilingualism are reviewed. Along with that information, a program that was created to work with Spanish and bilingual Spanish-English preschool and kindergarten age children is presented. This program focused primarily on the process for developing a thematic bilingual language-based curriculum for young children who exhibit a communicative disorder. Group therapy was targeted as part of the holistic approach that consisted of working on sentence structure activities, and communication boards that could be used both in individual of group sessions. Parent involvement was made possible with weekly homework letters and games. This curriculum win expand on a method of collaboration between a special education teacher and a speech-language pathologist for the development of communication skills in young children. The language group was conducted within a naturalistic context and/or the classroom environment.
Descriptors: Group Therapy, Multilingualism, Speech Language Pathology, Bilingualism, Cultural Background, Spanish, Sentence Structure, Preschool Education, Language Impairments, Special Education Teachers, Teacher Collaboration, Parent Participation
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, P.O. Box 1620, Hagerstown, MD 21741. Tel: 800-638-3030 (Toll Free); Fax: 301-223-2400.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A


