English-Only Testing of a Spanish-English Preschooler
Diego is 4 years 7 months old, born in the U.S. to Spanish-speaking parents who use mostly Spanish at home. His monolingual English-speaking preschool teacher reports two-word phrases, about 50% intelligibility for unfamiliar listeners, and that he often plays alone. The parents say he 'doesn't talk much' in either language and ask whether he has a delay or is 'just confused by two languages.' You are the only SLP in the district and do not speak Spanish; an interpreter is available two hours per week. You administer the CELF Preschool-3 in English: Core Language 76, Receptive 79, Expressive 74. Hearing screening passed. The parents have not yet been interviewed, and Diego has had no prior early intervention.
1. Before you write anything in the report, what do these scores mean, and what can and cannot be concluded from them?
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The scores are not interpretable as evidence of disorder, and they are not evidence of difference either.
- 76, 79, and 74 sit roughly 1.4–1.7 SD below the mean (about the 4th–8th percentile). On its face that looks like impairment.
- But the CELF Preschool-3 norms are monolingual English speakers. Diego is a sequential bilingual whose English input is limited and whose home language has not been assessed. The test measures English proficiency, not language ability. The standard scores are invalid for the referral question.
- IDEA requires assessment in the child's native language or other mode of communication and in a form most likely to yield accurate information (§300.304(c)(1)(i)). An English-only score alone cannot support eligibility, and administering a translated version would invalidate the norms without solving the problem.
- The receptive–expressive spread is trivial. Do not build an interpretation on it.
Do not conclude either way. 'It is just bilingualism' is as unsupported as 'it is a language delay,' and both are clinical claims. Two findings are worth flagging now, independent of the CELF: 50% intelligibility at 4;7 is low even for an unfamiliar listener, and the parent report of limited talking in both languages is a red flag that must be assessed in Spanish before it can be dismissed.
2. You have two hours of interpreter time this week and no bilingual SLP in the district. Design the assessment and defend the priorities.
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Spend the time where the information is.
- Interpreter-briefed parent interview (45 min). Which language is used by whom; language of siblings and media; first words and word combinations in Spanish; developmental, medical, and family history of speech-language problems; the parents' concerns in their own words; what communication looks like at home. Highest yield, and not replaceable by a questionnaire.
- Play-based assessment in Spanish with the interpreter (40 min), collecting a language sample of at least 50 utterances rather than a translated standardized test. Examine MLU, verb morphology, article/gender agreement, and pragmatic functions-Spanish-specific markers that matter.
- Dynamic assessment (20 min): teach a small set of novel labels or a grammatical structure, then measure modifiability-responsiveness to cues, transfer, and retention. A child with a language difference typically learns quickly with support; a child with developmental language disorder often does not.
- Teacher consult (15 min) for intelligibility and participation data.
Interpreter rules: meet beforehand to define roles, ask for first-person interpretation, seat the interpreter beside you rather than across from the family, and never use a sibling or the child.
The staffing gap is not a legal excuse. If the district cannot evaluate in Spanish internally, it must contract a bilingual SLP or use qualified telepractice. Lack of bilingual personnel does not authorize delay-document the referral and the plan to obtain appropriate personnel.
3. The parents ask directly: 'Does he have a language delay, or is it because he hears two languages?' What do you say, and what do you avoid saying?
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Answer the question they asked, plainly, and do not promise an outcome you do not have.
'Speaking two languages does not cause language delay. Children learning two languages sometimes mix them or take a little longer to reach the same number of words in each language-but they should be learning both. What we do not know yet is whether Diego is having trouble learning language in general, or whether we simply tested him in the language he knows least. Today's test only measured his English, so I will not use it to decide.'
Then name the signs that would concern you (few words in both languages, difficulty understanding, little pretend play or imitation, family history, slow progress over time), and name exactly what happens next and when: Spanish-language sampling, dynamic assessment, a home-language stimulation plan, and a review date.
Say two things explicitly:
- Keep speaking Spanish at home. Advising a family to switch languages is not supported by evidence and damages the parent–child interaction.
- Bilingualism is not a treatment you withdraw. Give concrete strategies in Spanish through the interpreter: narrating play, book sharing, expanding what he says.
Document that interpretive services were used and that the recommendation was delivered in the family's preferred language.