The manifestation of stuttering in Spanish-English bilingual speakers : a systematic review

The purpose of this systematic review was to analyze the descriptions of bilingual Spanish-English (SE) participants provided in stuttering literature to determine whether critical factors were used to define bilingualism and appropriate criteria were used to classify stuttering. The method included a systematic search of published studies that included bilingual Spanish-English participants who stutter and reviewed the level of detail provided regarding language history, function, proficiency, stability, mode, accent, covert speech, and affective factors. The identification and diagnosis of stuttering was also analyzed using disfluency factors that were reported across the studies. Those factors included formal diagnosis, monolingual guidelines, self-report, parent/teacher concern, informal observation, family history, and disfluency types. Ten studies qualified to be included the bilingualism analysis, consisting of over 15 different speakers who were identified as bilinguals who stutter. Nine out of the 10 studies qualified to be included in the stuttering analysis of the systematic review. Of the 10 studies analyzing bilingualism, the most frequently reported language profile information involved language proficiency, language history, and language function. Affect, accent, mode, and language stability information were the least mentioned language factors in the studies. Of the nine studies included in the disfluency analysis, the most commonly reported disfluency profile information involved disfluency types, comparison to monolingual normative data, and informal observation. The least reported disfluency factors in the studies were formal diagnosis, parent/teacher concern, self-reported stutterer, and family history of stuttering. Results demonstrate that the definition of bilingualism and the classification of stuttering among bilinguals is lacking and inconsistent.