Bilingual BEST for children who speak a language other than English

BEST was designed for all children who cannot form complete spoken sentences independently. For most children, their home language will be English. However, a significant number of children speak a language other than English and may be hearing and speaking another language at home.

Most speech and language therapists encounter bilingual children in their practice as Britain is a multi-cultural society. Bilingualism does not cause or contribute to a language delay or disorder. However, children who speak a language other than English are just as likely to experience a language delay or disorder.

Research has shown that when children have competent home language skills, they go on to acquire English as an additional language (EAL) much more successfully. Therefore, if a child is experiencing a language delay or disorder, it is most effective to treat them in their home language.

You can read more about speech, language and communication needs in a bilingual context at www.bilingualism.co.uk

It is planned that B-BEST will be a procedure which will help practitioners to develop BEST in other languages. We will give examples available in:
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• Pakistani heritage languages:
• Mirpuri
• Punjabi
• Urdu