Download or read book Attitudes Towards Nonnative Accents in the Field of Speech-Language Pathology written by Rosella Inzunza-Madrigal and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The number of individuals in the United States that speak a language other than English has dramatically increased from 23.1 million people in 1980 (Ryan, 2013) to approximately 67,802,345 in 2018 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019b). Approximately 21.6% of the US population speak a language other than English (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019a). Unfortunately, the number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) that identified themselves as speaking a language other than English is very low relative to the population. In 2020, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) reported that 16,656 (8.0%) of its members have met the ASHA definition of bilingual service provider (having a native or almost native proficiency in a second language) (ASHA, 2021a). There is a lack of bilingual providers within the field of speech-language pathology. Whether the second language is English or a different one, speakers of that second language may be identified as speaking with an accent. There is insufficient research available about SLPs and speech-language pathology students that speak English with a nonnative accent. The limited research available shows that certain areas within the scope of practice in speech-language pathology are perceived as not being properly evaluated and treated by clinicians with accents. This present study sought to determine the beliefs of professionals and SLP students in California about whether or not evaluation and treatment of speech, language, cognition, and swallowing disorders could be impacted if the SLP or SLP student speaks English with a nonnative accent. To collect data, three online surveys were distributed: the bilingual survey, the monolingual survey, and the clinical educator survey. A total of 116 responses were received from students and clinical directors in California. The results indicated that the majority of participants believed that speaking with a nonnative English accent is not an impediment to evaluate and treat clients; however, areas that highly involved speech-sounds were perceived as being the most impacted compared to the other areas.