Publication Date
Spring 2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Communicative Disorders and Sciences
Advisor
Eduardo Europa; Jessica de Leon; Marcella McCollum
Abstract
With a growing prevalence of multilingual, Spanish-English speakers in the United States, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) face limited research to learn about how to evaluate the language skills of this population. Exploring evaluation tools, more specifically, connected speech samples, and their effectiveness in assessing the dynamic nature of multilingualism with adults who speak Spanish and English can assist SLPs in making informed recommendations. This study aimed to investigate relations between language dominance and connected speech with cognitive-healthy multilingual Spanish-English adults. Language dominance was further examined by two perspectives that an SLP may utilize in their evaluation: evaluated and perceived. Correlations between language background measures used to represent these perspectives and connected speech measures of Spanish and English speech samples were examined. Results indicate more significant relations between a patient’s perceived language dominance and the connected speech measures of their more dominant language. The findings underscore the significance of patient input and need for culturally and linguistically sensitive approaches in speech-language pathology research and clinical practice.
Recommended Citation
Jimenez, Alyson, "Language Dominance and Connected Speech in Multilingual Spanish-English Adults" (2024). Master's Theses. 5510.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.jxwc-wkag
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5510
