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New Program at Xavier Prepares Speech Pathologists to Help Bilingual Children with Speech and Language Problems

Section: Community

New Program at Xavier Prepares Speech Pathologists to

Help Bilingual Children with Speech and Language Problems

It’s hard enough living in an English speaking world, when

English is not your first language. It’s even harder when you

have a speech or language problem and the speech pathologist

doesn’t speak your native language.

Project Buena Lingua at Xavier University is working to

increase the number of speech pathologists qualified to provide

services to native Spanish speakers who are learning English.

Students in the program agree to provide two years of service

in public schools with bilingual populations for every year of

funding received. The program, currently open to juniors and

senior Xavier students, is made possible by a grant from the

U.S. Department of Education.

Participants receive both a scholarship and stipend for their

last two years of study. They will be immersed in specialized

coursework in Latino language and culture, participate in a

study abroad program to a Spanish speaking country, as well

as participate in multicultural activities, cultural diversity

workshops and receive coursework and practical experience

in bilingual speech and language development. In addition,

students will be involved in activities in the New Orleans

Latino community.

“New Orleans has always had a strong Hispanic community,”

said Dr. Nancy Martino, Project Buena Lingua director. “After

Hurricane Katrina, the community has grown, and includes

native Spanish speakers from numerous countries. It’s important

to have speech pathologists who understand the difference

between speech and language proficiency and speech and

language problems. We cannot say that an individual has a

speech and language problem if he is proficient in his native

language.”

Every other summer a specialist in the field of bilingual

language disorders will come to New Orleans to teach a course

for the project participants. Dr. Kathryn Kohnert, from the

University of Minnesota, who specializes in language

acquisition in diverse populations, is one of the presenters.

Students who complete the program at Xavier will have met

state regulations for licensure as a speech language pathology

assistant. “The focus of the program is on community

involvement,” said program coordinator, Anna Frachou. “This

program offers bilingual education and community engagement.

It will increase the number of highly trained, degreed and state

licensed speech-language pathology assistants."

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