Assessing Bilingual Children in Context: An Integrated Approach (Applying Psychology in the Schools Series)

Children who are learning a second language and are referred for psychological assessment frequently present with unique personal backgrounds. They may have relocated from a Syrian refugee camp, immigrated from Mexico to escape poverty, or grown up navigating two languages spoken by biracial parents. Their individual histories can have long-term effects on learning, behavior, and social-emotional development.

This book was written to inform clinicians and educators working with youth who demonstrate variability in knowledge and fluency in either one or both of their two languages. It explores the influence of experiences like poverty and immigration on the biological processes of second-language acquisition, looks at the effects of cross-language transfer, discusses international and multicultural complexities critical to understanding the bilingual child, and examines the biological and neurological bases of second-language acquisition.

The authors expertly synthesize this material, offering a set of guidelines for assessment. In addition to case studies that illustrate the application of the principles discussed, they provide concise graphic tools, such as checklists and charts, to provide readers with a succinct point of reference.

This is not a book about tests. Rather, it is a book about children and the complexity of evaluating their functioning when they are acquiring a second language, written for the professionals who wish to help by gaining a complete understanding of the contexts that shape them.

Amanda B. Clinton, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Puerto Rico, where her work focuses on neuropsychology, dual language learning, and social–emotional skill development within a cultural framework. She earned her MEd at the University of Washington and her PhD at the University of Georgia. She is a credentialed school psychologist and a licensed psychologist. As a Fulbright Scholar in Medellín, Colombia, Dr. Clinton researched relationships between language structure and reading acquisition processes. Dr. Clinton has worked with second language learners from various regions of the world, including Central and South America as well as the United States, and has published and presented her work nationally and internationally.