Pedagogical Approaches to Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Communication Sciences and Disorders Programs: A Nationwide Survey

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates how instructors in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs teach about cultural and linguistic diversity (CLD) in general-content courses as well as those dedicated to CLD content with the goal of identifying ways of improving training of preservice clinicians to provide culturally responsive service delivery.

Method: A survey was sent to 4,192 instructors in CSD programs at 295 institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico, of which 565 responded. The survey contained choice response questions and open-ended questions.

Results: Curricular infusion as the sole strategy of CLD training has decreased since a similar survey was published by Stockman et al. (2008), while the number of programs that offer courses dedicated to CLD or use both strategies has increased. Dedicated CLD courses offer broader training in CLD issues and are considered more effective at preparing students to work with CLD populations. A number of challenges were identified, such as a lack of available resources or time to cover CLD issues.

Conclusions: A combination of curricular infusion and dedicated CLD coursework is recommended to ensure sufficient training in CLD issues. The development of additional resources is needed to better support instructors in both general-content and CLD-dedicated courses. Finally, CLD training should engage students in challenging unjust systems and harmful ideologies and not just celebrate multiculturalism in order to provide culturally responsive service to all clients.

Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25587651.