ABSTRACT
In Australia, Speech Pathology has traditionally been a linguistically homogeneous profession. This is changing, however, and there are now increasing numbers of speech pathologists (SPs) who are able to speak and understand a language (or languages) other than English to a high level. Despite this emerging trend, little is known about the ways in which these bilingual practitioners use their linguistic knowledge in their professional practice. While calls in the research and professional literature for more bilingual SPs are not new, university training programs tend to be based largely on traditional monolingual models of practice, albeit with an emphasis on the importance of sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity and various collaborative approaches (e.g. with interpreters) when working with clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This chapter reports on the preliminary findings of a study in which Sydney-based bilingual speech pathologists were interviewed about their clinical practice. It provides an overview of the ways in which bilingual SPs in Sydney use (and do not use) their linguistic and cultural knowledge as part of their professional practice. The chapter also highlights ways in which practitioners’ diverse language skills could be more efficiently used in public and community health settings.
