SPANISH-ENGLISH BILINGUAL VOCABULARY STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENTIONS FOR EMERGENT BILINGUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDERS. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Salazar, Andrea Lucia
Salazar, Andrea Lucia
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2025-05-19
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Abstract
There is a need to enhance intervention strategies for bilingual children with DLD. By synthesizing the available research, this review will provide evidence-based recommendations for SLPs and improve clinical practices, focusing on optimizing vocabulary acquisition in both Spanish and English. This systematic review aims to inform Speech Language Pathologists on best strategies for bilingual vocabulary interventions for emergent bilinguals with developmental language disorders. It will assess effective strategies, dosages, and other factors, while highlighting research gaps. We carried out searches in four electronic databases ComDisDome, Embase, Education Source, PubMed, and Citation Searching, as well as using additional hand searches of interventions studies using the keywords. The keywords were entered into each database to create a search string (children OR preschool* OR grade school OR primary school OR elementary school) AND abstract(vocabulary) AND (bilingual OR dual language) AND ("DLD" OR developmental language disorder* OR specific language impairment OR "SLI") AND Spanish) for ComDisDome. Four studies met inclusion criteria. Effective strategies included dialogic reading, cognate-based instruction, mediated learning experiences, and multimodal support. Interventions using Tier 2 vocabulary and providing at least 36 exposures per word led to improved outcomes. Bilingual approaches were more effective than English-only models and did not hinder English development. Simultaneous instruction in both languages facilitated cross-linguistic transfer. Findings support the use of interactive, linguistically responsive interventions to promote vocabulary development in Spanish-English emergent bilinguals with DLD.