Exploring Assumptions of the Bilingual Delay in Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder.
Elizabeth D Peña, Lisa M Bedore, Alejandro Granados Vargas
PMID 37656012WHAT IT FOUND
Testing bilingual children in only one language misses their true ability because they often have mixed dominance, scoring higher in one language for vocabulary and the other for grammar.
Using the best score across both languages removes the bias of language exposure and prevents misdiagnosis of developmental language disorder.
Key findings
01Most bilingual children show mixed dominance, scoring higher in one language for semantics and the other for morphosyntax, rather than being dominant in a single language.
02Scores in a single language are heavily influenced by the amount of exposure to that language, but the best score across both languages is not associated with exposure levels.
03Children with developmental language disorder scored significantly lower than typically developing peers even when using their best language score, confirming that DLD is detectable across languages.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included Spanish-English bilinguals, so the patterns of mixed dominance may differ for other language pairs. The analysis relies on standardized test scores (BESA/BESA-ME), which may not capture all aspects of communicative competence. The sample was drawn from specific regions in the United States (Texas, Colorado, Utah), which may limit generalizability to other educational contexts.
Declared interests
The research was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that low scores in a child's dominant language indicate a disorder. Low scores may simply reflect lower exposure to that language. Always compare scores across both languages to find the child's best performance before making a diagnosis.