Multicultural/multilingual instruction in educational programs: a survey of perceived faculty practices and outcomes

To describe the instructional strategies reported for multicultural/multilingual issues (MMI) education at programs in speech-language pathology and audiology and the perceived ease and effectiveness of doing so.

A 49-item questionnaire elicited anonymous responses from administrators, faculty, and teaching clinical supervisors at educational programs accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in the United States. The data were provided by 731 respondents from 79.6% of 231 accredited U.S. programs. They included instructors who taught courses dedicated to MMI and those who did not.

Respondents were generally committed to multicultural instruction, but they varied in their reported instructional practices and perceived levels of preparedness, effectiveness, and needs. General curricular infusion without an MMI-dedicated course was the most common instructional model used. Students were judged to be at least modestly prepared to deal with diversity issues as a result of their multicultural instruction, although current instructional approaches were not viewed as optimal. More positive outcomes were reported by instructors of MMI-dedicated than MMI-nondedicated courses.

The instructional models and strategies used for MMI education vary, and programs are challenged by multiple issues in complying with the mandate for MMI curricular infusion.