Language and Literacy Strategies for Indigenous Children: A Scoping Review.
Mark Guiberson, Christine B Vining
PMID 36649703WHAT IT FOUND
Most language and literacy strategies for Indigenous children lack strong evidence.
Only 28 of 92 strategies had compelling support, mostly mainstream techniques like modeling language or targeted vocabulary. Clinicians should adapt these carefully, as few studies included children with disabilities.
Key findings
01The review identified 92 strategies, but only 28 had compelling strength, while 45 lacked strength.
02Very few sources included children with disabilities, and no treatment studies evaluated interventions for this specific group.
03Strategies with compelling strength were largely mainstream techniques such as modeling language, targeted vocabulary, and phonological awareness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The strength coding used the highest level found across all sources for a strategy, so a strategy could be rated 'compelling' based on a single high-quality study among many low-quality ones. Only 5 studies were rated as having compelling strength overall, limiting the generalizability of the findings. The review found a severe lack of treatment studies involving Indigenous children with disabilities, despite high representation in special education. Many sources did not specify the tribes or Indigenous languages involved, making it difficult to assess cultural specificity.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that strategies rated 'compelling' are validated specifically for Indigenous children with disabilities. The review found no treatment studies evaluating interventions for this subgroup, and the 'compelling' rating often reflects mainstream evidence rather than culturally specific efficacy.