Nondiscrimination Statement: Students and Professionals Who Speak English With Non-mainstream Accents and Dialects

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1998). Students and professionals who speak english with accents and nonstandard dialects: issues and recommendations [Position Statement]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.

© Copyright 1998 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. All rights reserved.

Department of Speech-Language Pathology Implementation:

Before beginning the graduate program, incoming graduate students receive information about the English Proficiency Screening protocol. The incoming graduate students are also reminded of the protocol at Fall Orientation. The screenings are administered during the first semester of the graduate program (fall semester) by second-year student clinicians. The second-year student clinicians are supervised by certified clinical educators. The screening includes:

1. Hearing screening,
2. Speech sample,
3. Language sample,
4. Writing sample.

The hearing screening includes pure tone audiometry at a sample of frequencies. The speech sample contains structures and unstructured tasks. Students are rated on articulation, fluency, voice quality, and overall intelligibility. The language sample is rated on language abilities (expressive and receptive) as well as pragmatics. The writing sample is examined for grammatical accuracy, accurate spelling, and overall ability to convey information.

The results of the screening are reviewed by the supervising certified clinical educators for accuracy. The Coordinator of Clinical Education reviews and approves the finalized results. The incoming graduate students are notified of the screening results by a letter sent from the Coordinator of Clinical Education. The screening results letter is also added to the student’s file. Any incoming graduate student whose performance on the screening falls below the expected level meets with the Coordinator of Clinical Education. The Coordinator of Clinical Education provides recommendations to the student to assist the student in increasing proficiency.

Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA): Standard 4.2 (Student Adaptations)

4.2  Standard:  The program makes reasonable adaptations to curriculum, policies, and procedures to accommodate differences among individual students.

The program must have a policy regarding proficiency in spoken and written English and other languages of instruction and service delivery and all other performed expectations.

Standard V:  Skills Outcomes

Standard V-A: The applicant must have demonstrated skills in oral and written or other forms of communication sufficient for entry into professional practice.