Children with Communication Disorders (continued)

Many communication problems can be improved by therapy. Some problems may never be "cured," but children can learn new strategies to overcome their difficulties (e.g., attention deficit or stuttering). Some children may be able to overcome their deficits as they grow older (e.g., mild language delays), while others may compensate by communicating through electronic means (e.g., an augmentative communication device or hearing aid).

Students Learning English

Enrollment of students in the United States from varying cultural and linguistic backgrounds has significantly increased over the last few years. These students exhibit various levels of functioning within the context of the school culture; they are acculturating to the US school system and they are also learning English.

It is often difficult for teachers to tell if these students have a disability or problems resulting from acculturation and language learning. Code switching or code mixing, i.e., mixing two languages in the same sentence or paragraph, is a natural second language phenomenon-it is not indicative of a language disorder. Most bilingual speakers code switch or code mix. An example of code switching by a teacher follows.

The teacher utilizes English, Spanish, and French to illustrate her point:

• What language is mille lacs (one thousand lakes)? Do you know what that means? What does mille (thousand) mean? 'Mille' (French word for one thousand) means mil (Spanish word for one thousand). Lacs (French word for lakes) means lagos (Spanish word for lakes).

Children who speak English as a second language or speak another dialect do not have a disorder simply because of their different dialect or language. However, to diagnose an English language learner with a communication disorder requires that symptoms of the disorder be present in both languages or dialects.

Speech-language pathologists in schools thus face the challenge of how best to provide services for students who are learning the English language. The issue is compounded when monolingual pathologists must provide services to students from bilingual homes.

Educational Implications of Communications Disorders

A strong relationship exists between communication and academic achievement. Language and communication proficiency, along with academic success, depend on whether students can match their communications to the learning-teaching style of the classroom.

Students with communication disorders are capable of high academic success if they learn the classroom's social, language, and learning patterns. Teachers and speech-language pathologists should focus their attention on classroom interactions and the language and communications used within the school in order to help students learn to communicate in these environments. Explicit language and communication planning as well as non-deliberate language use (e.g., unconscious choice of language) are important features of the school and class environments that provide opportunities for teaching and learning.