Bilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorder: Outcomes and Interventions

Abstract

Developmental language disorder, as one of the most frequent disorders in children is also prevalent in bilingual children. This review analyzed recent research collected from APA Psycinfo and summarizes the impact of developmental language disorder on linguistic skills and academic performance and its effective interventions. For intervention, examples of additive curriculum-based intervention, the Heidelberg Parent-based Language Intervention (HPLI) and cognitive-behavioral play therapy are discussed. As a result, bilingual children with developmental language disorders can exhibit impaired linguistic skills and lower academic achievement. School-based, home-based, and clinical interventions demonstrated both advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the use of a combination of interventions in different settings collaboratively is recommended to promote language learning. Contribution from this review supports the need for additional research on intervention for bilingual children with developmental language disorders to create an interactive communication environment that promotes language development for bilingual children with developmental language disorders.