Bilingual Language Development & Disorders

in Spanish–English Speakers

Third Edition

edited by Brian A. Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
San Marcos, California

Excerpted from Bilingual Language Development & Disorders in Spanish–English Speakers, Third Edition edited by Brian A. Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP 9781681253992_FM_i-xxvi.indd 3 1/13/22 11:30 AM

ISBN-13: 978-1-68125-399-2
ISBN-10: 1-68125-399-2

Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Post Office Box 10624
Baltimore, Maryland 21285-0624 USA
www.brookespublishing.com
Copyright © 2022 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Previous edition copyright © 2012

Table of Contents

• About the Editor . vii
• About the Contributors . ix
• Foreword . xvii
• Preface . xix
• A Note on Terminology . xxi
• Acknowledgments . xxiii

Chapter 1

The Human Right to Communicate in More Than One Language .1
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido

Chapter 2

Bilingual Language Development of English Learners: Estimating the Growth of Two Languages .9
Aquiles Iglesias and Raúl Rojas

Chapter 3

Bilingual Language Acquisition and the Child Socialization Process .45
Kelly Escobar, Julie Smith, Carol Scheffner Hammer, and Barbara Rodríguez

Chapter 4

Development of Speech Perception and Production in Bilingual Preverbal Infants .67
Megha Sundara

Chapter 5

Cross-Linguistic Influence and Code-Switching .95
Johanne Paradis and Adriana Soto-Corominas

Chapter 6

Bilingual Lexical Development, Assessment, and Intervention .119
Janet L. Patterson and Barbara

The Human Right to Communicate in More Than One Language

Gabriela Simon-Cereijido

Language and communication are essential to being human. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) advocate for children with communication and language disorders, that is, with disorders that interfere with comprehension and expression. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) mission is to "make effective communication, a human right, accessible and achievable for all" (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 2017). The right to communication is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948).

This article protects the right of expression of the individual "without limitation of borders, by any means of expression." Human rights are universal, indivisible, and inalienable (McEwin & Santow, 2018); they apply to everyone, across every home, community, language, and nation. Article 19 protects individuals who communicate with alternative communication modes and nonmajority languages and dialects (McLeod, 2018).

Language choice, an inviolable right, is also included in several United Nations conventions and declarations such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations, 1966), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (United Nations, 1965), the Millennium Declaration (United Nations, 2000), the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (United Nations, 2015a), and the Declaration on the Right to Peace (United Nations, 2015b). Moreover, linguistic rights are reiterated in several articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989).

In sum, every person has the human right to communicate in the language or languages they want, like, prefer, and use. SLPs play an essential role in supporting the right to develop and maintain home languages and dialects beyond the exclusive national language’s use (Simon-Cereijido, 2018).

Being bilingual is a human right. By acknowledging and reflecting on language policy, we can help children and their families practice their language policies and exercise the human right of communication without limitation of borders by any means of expression.

REFERENCES

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2017). Strategic pathway to excellence: ASHA’s strategic plan. Retrieved link.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2020). Demographic profile of ASHA members providing bilingual services, year-end 2019. Retrieved from link

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2021). Profile of ASHA members and affiliates, year-end 2020. Retrieved from link.