Assessment of Multicultural Students with Potential Language Disorders

Workshop Description

The increasing number of multilingual, multicultural students in our schools demands that we make accurate language assessment and placement decisions.   The biggest challenge facing clinicians is differentiating a language difference from a language learning disability (LLD).

This workshop covers informal assessment materials and methods that are useful for assessing potential language disorders in students from any language background.  Case studies illustrate the principles and methods discussed.

Dr. Roseberry-McKibbin is a university Professor who also works part time directly with children in a year-round school district setting. Her district contains children from over 80 different language backgrounds. Dr. Roseberry-McKibbin's workshop is designed to help you assess the language skills of children from any language background.

This information-packed workshop will help you:

Describe how second language acquisition and bilingualism impact a child's developing language;

Discuss federal laws and guidelines pertaining to nonbiased assessment of students who speak English as a second language;

List potential sources of bias on standardized tests of language;

Describe and discuss informal, nonstandardized methods and materials for differentiating language differences from language disorders;

List suggestions for working with effectively with interpreters

Apply theories, methods, and materials discussed to actual case studies of children from varied language backgrounds.