Managing Bilingual Therapy: Part 3 {+ Spanish GIVEAWAY!}

Here we are, at the final installment of "Managing Bilingual Therapy". Time to talk treatment!

What language should I treat in?
Many people believe that once you've identified the child's "home language", or language of greatest exposure, you should be targeting that language in intervention. I believe this to generally true, for example, in the case in which a child primarily is exposed to Spanish during the day and hears English only via television shows, music, etc. However, in the case in which a child truly receives bilingual exposure to both English and Spanish, such as they hear both spoken in the home (with integrated codeswitching) or they a bilingual preschool or classroom, I will conduct therapy in both languages.

How does that work, conducting therapy in two languages? 
There are several ways to do this, however, my favorite way to do so is through an integrated child-led and adult-led approach. It incorporates several factors:

1) Beginning the session in the language which you would like to target language concepts primarily that day;
2) Codeswitching between languages as appropriate to aid in comprehension and carryover of learning from one language to the other;
3) Alternating between languages based on the child's desire to do so; for instance, if I ask a child a question in Spanish and they answer me in English, I will reinforcement their response in English. I may also repeat the answer in Spanish for good measure, but I never force the child to respond in only one language during the session. As a non-disordered individual and dual language learner they must learn that it is their attempts at communication that matter most to us, not their language choice, and that for bilingual speakers, real fluency is demonstrated in the ease of transition between one and the other.

How do you know which goals to target?
Typically, I look what is most functionally important in both- the ability to request, comment, use basic verbs, present progressives, pronouns, etc. Typically, if a child is truly bilingual, at least one of their main caregivers (or teachers) is bilingual as well, and so if they master a concept in one language, they can at least use that for communication purposes, regardless. I do not target each goal to mastery in both languages, unless it is a skill that it is functionally non-negotiable. I expose my kids to vocabulary in both, and with little guys ages 3 and under, I am always choosing the word that is use most often in the home. If the child's milk is always referred to as "lechita", I will use and target this term exclusively. That being said, if the choice is up to me, I will typically choose the word that is most articulatory "saliable" if that makes any sense- that being words that start with early sounds (bilabials, alveolars, etc.) and contain less syllables than their translated counterparts. For exmple, I am much more likely to teach a bilingual child the word "head" than "cabeza", although I will always provide the translation just in case the child surprises me and latches onto that one instead.

What if the child switches preference for their dominant language?
I once had a bilingual child that although he received bilingual exposure at home, demonstrated a strong desire to use English-only with me. One day, after six months or so of services, I came to see him and was shocked to find him running off at the mouth in Spanish only, after starting preschool in a bilingual classroom only a few weeks earlier. And I ran with it. Switched to Spanish in treatment, while providing supports in English as needed and to check for bilingual comprehension and expression skills. That being said, bilingual treatment is often like bilingual assessment, in that you begin with a target language in mind but you allow room to move in and out of both languages as necessary.

What are some useful bilingual treatment tools, i.e. websites, games, etc.?
Some of my favorite resources come from none other than Super Duper and Linguisystems, but also I've found a plethora of great downloads for Spanish resources on Teachers Pay Teachers and even just simple Google searches for, "Spanish preschool worksheet (target skill). Some of my most beloved apps include:

1) "Llama Llama Red Pajama" Story App- translated in both Spanish AND English! Great for Early Intervention through kindergarten.
2) "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" App- English only, but simple enough to be translated back and forth.
3) "My PlayHome" App- a realistic, functional app in which kids can create families and make them do fun things like eating food, playing outside, taking a bath, etc. Great for language treatment no matter what the language.
4) "Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" App- Sings the classic song in FIVE world languages.
5) "Peek-a-Boo Barn" App- Farm animals in both English and Spanish...the ultimate farm animal app in my opinion. I also use it target early vocabulary such as "bye", "night night", "open", etc. Just get it.

Almost anything you use for English language therapy can be used for Spanish and bilingual therapy, unless you plan on using written materials or providing Home Exercise Programs (HEPs) for parents in a language other than the child's dominant language. Right now I have a great HEP Packet available in my TpT store with multiple recommendations for carryover activities in English; would anyone be interested in the Spanish counterpart?

That being said, I wanted to finish this off this series by doing a giveaway for you awesome speechies out there doing bilingual or Spanish therapy!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance at winning a brand-new copy of "216 Fold & Say 'WH' Question Scenes" by Super Duper! 

I know. Super awesome.

Giveaway ends next Friday, May 16th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway