Abstract
Serra Acar and Patricia Blasco have provided a thoughtful article that integrates culturally responsive practices and DEC-recommended practices in ways that can support young children and families for whom English is not the primary language of the home (Guidelines for collaborating with interpreters in early intervention/early childhood special education in Young Exceptional Children). It highlights effective practices to use before, during, and after an exchange in which an interpreter is involved to yield the best possible results. Here are some additional ideas for ways to extend the use of this valuable article.
Do you work directly with young children and families who speak languages other than English?
Read the opening vignette about Carol, Ebru, and her family. Imagine that you will soon be providing home-based early intervention services to Ebru and her family. What are some of the things you will need to know more about to support Ebru’s learning and development in ways that support her home language? How might this affect your interactions and the materials you use? If these are areas in which you would like to expand your repertoire, one source of information is https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/culture-language/article/specific-strategies-support-dual-language-learners-dlls-when-adults-do-not. This is a set of specific strategies to support children who are dual language learners (DLLs), which was developed for individuals who do not speak the languages of those children.
Maintaining ongoing, collaborative contact with families for whom English is not the language of the home can be challenging. Think about the strategies you would use to build this capacity. For additional information on this topic, check out Greg Cheatham’s article (Language interpretation, parent participation, and young children with disabilities in Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 31(2), 78-88).
“Service providers, who are working with culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families, need to collaborate with interpreters to support optimal child and family outcomes.”
Do you provide professional development as an instructor or faculty member?
As an instructor, this would be an excellent assigned reading. Ask learners to read the article, then develop a tip sheet of 10 effective practices to always keep in mind when working with an interpreter. Although many are summarized in Table 4: Strategies for Interpreters (page 8 of the article), encourage learners to add others.
Use video clips or scheduled observations to provide opportunities for learners to observe a conversation that includes an interpreter. Ask learners to review the list of effective practices. After the observation, promote discussion of the practices that were and were not observed.
Ask learners to review the DEC-Recommended Practices for Environments, Instruction, and Interaction through the specific lens of supporting a child for whom English is not the home language. With that lens, discuss additional considerations for each aspect of practice. To support this discussion, consider providing access to a collection of evidence-based resources such as Resources for Supporting Young Children Who Are DLLs and Families (http://fpg.unc.edu/presentations/vermont-resource-collections) on supporting young children who are DLLs and their families.
Create an opportunity for learners to interview an individual who provides early childhood/early intervention language interpretation services. Consider asking learners to identify two questions they could pose in an interview to learn about the interpreters’ role, scope of responsibilities, and dos/don’ts from their perspective. The interview could be conducted live and in person or using technology such as skype that would support both auditory and visual information. During the interview, learners could pose the questions they developed.
Footnotes
Author’s Note
You may reach Camille Catlett by e-mail at