Today’s speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work with a population that is increasingly older as well as more racial and ethnically diverse. When seeking to use evidence-based practice (EBP) in your work, you may find that current research doesn’t explore the role of language in disorders that are more common in older individuals.

The latest forum in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR) features articles on the role of native language, dialect, and foreign accents in dysarthria. Read more about this forum—brought to JSLHR by Guest Editor Yunjung Kim—below!

Universal and Language-Specific Characteristics of Dysarthria

The forum opens with an introduction by Kim discussing the articles as well as the clinical relevance of this research. Next, Moya-Galé, Kim, and Fabiano review dysarthria secondary to Parkinson’s disease (PD), offering linguistically and culturally responsive EBP guidelines for SLPs.

Pinto and colleagues report on acoustic characteristics of dysarthria in people with Parkinson’s disease, finding acoustic variables that differed in French and Portuguese speakers. Then, Kim et al. investigated the universal and language-specific aspects in perceptual ratings of dysarthria, highlighting the role that the language of the listener plays.

Using This Forum in the Clinic

The next two articles highlight one particular goal of the forum—implementing new information about language variation and dysarthria into clinical practice.

  • Chang and colleagues focus on dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy, studying how children who speak Korean modified their speech when receiving two prompts.
  • Moya-Galé, Hernández, and colleagues studied the effects of an intensive voice treatment program on Spanish-speaking individuals with dysarthria secondary to PD.

Both articles show how SLPs can use this work in their clinic now, whereas the final article in the forum is dedicated to looking ahead.

Looking to the Future

Levy and Moya-Galé ended the forum by proposing a hybrid approach, advocating for both universal and language-specific methods to manage dysarthria in the clinic. They highlight additional areas of research that researchers can further explore.

In her introduction, Kim writes that “this forum will fuel future work extending the number of languages studied and the types of participants with respect to their age and etiologies” (Kim, 2024, p. 2812). This forum dually provides clinicians with new ideas while encouraging researchers to expand on the goals of the forum.

We’d like to thank Dr. Kim and all of the authors who contributed to this forum for bringing this timely work to ASHA members! You can read the entire forum in the latest issue of JSLHR or explore the individual articles below!

Explore the Forum

Chang, Y. M., Jeong, P.-Y., Hwang, K., Ihn, B.-Y., McAuliffe, M. J., Sim, H., & Levy, E. S. (2024). Effects of speech cues on acoustics and intelligibility of Korean-speaking children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2856–2871. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00457

Kim, Y. (2024). Introduction to the forum: Native language, dialect, and foreign accents in dysarthria. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2811–2812. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00522

Kim, Y., Thompson, A., & Lee, S. J. (2024). Does native language matter in perceptual ratings of dysarthria? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2842–2855. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00668

Levy, E. S., & Moya-Galé, G. (2024). Revisiting dysarthria treatment across languages: The hybrid approach. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2893–2902. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00629

Moya-Galé, G., Delgado Hernández, J., Goudarzi, A., & Walsh, S. J. (2024). ¿Notas la diferencia? [Do you hear the difference?]: Perceptual consequences of intensive voice treatment in Spanish speakers with Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2872–2892. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00379

Moya-Galé, G., Kim, Y., & Fabiano, L. (2024). Raising awareness about language- and culture-specific considerations in the management of dysarthria associated with Parkinson’s disease within the United States. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2813–2821. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00365

Pinto, S., Cardoso, R., Atkinson-Clement, C., Guimarães, I., Sadat, J., Santos, H., Mercier, C., Carvalho, J., Cuartero, M.-C., Oliveira, P., Welby, P., Frota, S., Cavazzini, E., Vigário, M., Letanneux, A., Cruz, M., Brulefert, C., Desmoulins, M., Pavão Martins, I., . . . Ferreira, J. J. (2024). Do acoustic characteristics of dysarthria in people with Parkinson’s Disease differ across languages? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9), 2822–2841. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00525