1. Diagnosing Speech Sound
Disorders in Vietnamese speaking
children learning English as a
second language
Kimberly Jones
SLP6091 Multicultural Issues
Nova Southeastern University
10/30/11

2. Typical Vietnamese Speech
Development
No Research Available!!!
Why???
Are there speech disorders in
Vietnam?

3. Speech disorders in Vietnam
No incidence/prevalence data could be
found
According to Hwa-Froelich and Westby (2003):
•Speech sound disorders usually were not
recognized as a disability as are blindness,
deafness, and physical impairments that restrict
daily activity
•Cleft Palate, speech and learning problems, and
mental retardation were considered to be due to a
child’s nature, stubbornness, laziness, or fate

4. Speech Therapy in Vietnam
• Speech therapy in Vietnam according to Dr.
Charlotte Ducote
▫ Most interest is from rehabilitation specialists
▫ More interest each year for increasing special
education in designated schools and/or programs
related to orphanages
▫ Non-Governmental Organizations in Vietnam and
some from outside Vietnam are sponsoring activities
to raise awareness of how to help people with speech-
language and related disorders.
▫ There were no formal training programs in speech
therapy or audiology in Vietnam as of early 2002 and
no one had left the country to receive formal training
from a college or university program in speech therapy
(Bowen, 2010)

5. Speech Therapy in Vietnam: What is
Available?
• J594 Vietnam Speech-Language Program (Trinh
Foundation Australia)
▫ Working to establish speech-language therapy as a
profession using a “train the trainer” model
▫ Planning and funding the first full time, two year
post graduate diploma program in speech-
language therapy at the Pham Ngoc Thach
Municipal Medical University in Ho Chi Minh
City, to begin in September of 2010.
▫ Did it happen???
(Bowen, 2010)

6. YES!!!
• As of the most recent
Newsletter from October 2011:
▫ All 18 students successfully
completed Year 1 of the
Program
▫ Program Coordinator Ms.
Marie Atherton will
showcase the program and
students at the ASHA
Conference in November 2011
in San Diego
September 6, 2010 Opening Ceremony
for the 1st
ever 2-year Speech-Language
Post-graduate Program in Vietnam
(Bowen, 2010)

7. Vietnamese Population in the U.S.
• Increasing: From 3.6% in 2000 to 4.8% of the
US Population in 2010
▫ 4th
largest Asian group in the United States
according to the 2000 Census:
 Chinese: 23.8% of the US Asian Population
 Filipino: 18.3 % of the US Asian Population
 Asian Indian: 16.2% of the US Asian Population
 Vietnamese: 10.9% which equals 1,110,207 people
▫ In 2000: Vietnamese had the highest proportion
of the Asian US population that reported they
spoke English less than “very well”. (62%)
(Reeves & Bennett, 2004; Humes, Jones & Ramirez, 2011)

8. Research on Speech Sound Acquisition
for Vietnamese - English speakers
• No published studies could be located specifically related
to typical speech sound development of Vietnamese
children who learn English as a second language
• Instead – a detailed description of general Vietnamese
phonology (including it’s similarities and differences
with English) and data from a qualitative study
describing the speech characteristics of highly
unintelligible monolingual Vietnamese speakers will be
reviewed to provide us with information that may assist
in the diagnosis of speech-sound disorders in
Vietnamese children who are learning English as a
second language.

9. Vietnamese Phonology
• Several languages have influenced Vietnamese:
▫ English, Chinese, Malay, and French
• There are Three main Dialects:
▫ Southern
▫ Central
▫ Northern
• Pronunciation and tone varies across dialects
but graphemes used in writing are the same
(Hwa-Froelich, Hodson & Edwards, 2006)

10. Vietnamese Phonology
• Syllabic Language:
▫ Three components of a Vietnamese syllable:
 Initial consonant singleton, the rhyme, and the tone
▫ Four types of Syllables:
 Open: CV or CvV
 Partially Open: Cv or Vv (ending in a semi-vowel)
 Partially Closd: ending in a nasal
 Closed: ending in a voiceless unreleased plosive
Syllable structures beginning in a vowel have also
been considered: e.g. VC, Vv, and syllabic V
▫ There are no consonant clusters in Vietnamese
(Tang & Barlow, 2006)

11. Vietnamese Phonology
• Six Vietnamese Tones (Agar, 1998-2011)
• The tone used changes the meaning of the word:
▫ What does this mean for those with voice impairments?
Listen to a recording of connected speech from two speakers:
Omniglot.com
(Southern and Northern Dialect)
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

12. Vietnamese Dialectical Differences
Note: Southern dialect may produce written ‘v’ as /j/,
written final ‘t’ as /k/, and written final ‘n’ as “ng”.
Consider: Would these productions appear to indicate speech
sound disorder if the clinician was not aware of the phonology of
Vietnamese?
(Tang & Barlow, 2006)

13. Vietnamese and English Phonology
Contrast/Comparison
English Vietnamese
• Tone differences at the phrase
and sentence level change
meaning from statement to
question or indicate emotion
• Initial, medial, and final
consonant clusters and blends
are common
• Wide range of final consonants
used
• Use both aspirated and un-
aspirated stops
interchangeably
• Tone differences at the word
level change the word itself
• No consonant clusters or
blends
• Final consonants limited to
un-aspirated voiceless stops
and nasals
• Most stops are un-aspirated or
implosive: there are a few
exceptions (e.g. “th” which
sounds like there is a long “h”
at the end
(Tang & Barlow, 2006)

14. Error’s that may indicate a Speech-
Sound DIFFERENCE
(Hwa-Froelich &Westby, 2002)
(Hwa-Froelich &Westby, 2002)
Vietnamese influenced English:
Speech Accent Archive

15. Diagnosing speech sound disorders in
Monolingual Vietnamese Children
• Tang & Barlow’s 2006 study described the speech sound
production of 3 monolingual Vietnamese speaking
children who were considered highly unintelligible by
their families.
• With no recorded data on typical speech development in
Vietnamese children the authors merely postulated that
the speech of the children in the study must have some
atypical sound production patterns due to the reported
low intelligibility ratings by their families
• The following characteristics were found in their speech:
▫ Substitution of less complex sounds for more complex ones in
place (glottal for alveolar), manner (stops for fricatives), and
voicing (de-voicing of voiced sounds)
▫ Substitutions of more complex sounds in place of less complex
ones in place (velar backing)

16. Diagnosing speech sound disorders in
Monolingual Vietnamese Children
• When compared to typical speech sound
development of children who speak Cantonese (a
similar language)
▫ Some backing is evident in typical Cantonese speech
sound development but it is rare (less than 6% up to
age 4:11 and not reported beyond 4:11) (So & Dodd, 1994 as cited
in Tang and Barlow, 2006)
▫ It is unclear which speech sound characteristics would
be considered typical in speech development of
children but consider earlier data indicating backing in
the typical characteristics of the southern dialect for
the phonemes final /t/ and /k/ (Tang & Barlow, 2006)
)

17. Diagnosing speech sound disorders
• When evaluating speech sound production of English
language learners who’s first language is Vietnamese, the
following information/processes may help distinguish
differences versus disorder:
▫ Obtain an intelligibility rating in the client’s primary language by
a fluent speaker of their dialect.
▫ Observe for error patterns in both languages that are not
consistent with common manner, place, or voicing patterns from
the primary language
▫ Look for phoneme substitutions of what are considered to be
more complex phonemes for simpler phonemes in both languages
as this may indicate atypical patterns
▫ Involve the family and take into consideration reported speech
sound development of siblings
▫ Compare English speech-sound acquisition of second language
learners to norms from similar languages/cultures when data on
the exact population is lacking (e.g. Cantonese)

18. Cultural do’s and don'ts for working with
Vietnamese families
• Conversation and Meetings:
▫ Always approach the oldest person present for
information. If they do not know they will refer you to
someone who does.
▫ Politeness is demonstrated by speaking softly and
being reserved in public places as opposed to
outspoken
▫ Vietnamese parents see teachers as people with
authority over schooling and may think teachers
incompetent for seeking parent involvement.
▫ Western man (stranger) should not touch a Southeast
Asian woman, including shaking hands.
▫ Westerners should not kiss or hug Southeast Asian
children in greeting.
(sjbreeze, 2010)

19. Cultural do’s and don'ts for working
with Vietnamese families
• Non-Verbal:
▫ If you use the “ok” symbol with your hands make sure
not to grimace with your face – that can confuse
▫ Never point to an older person or to someone’s face
▫ Do not beckon “come here” with your finger as this
gesture is intended for animals
▫ Don’t use waving motions to beckon – it is considered
impolite
▫ Don’t cross your fingers: this is an obscene gesture
▫ Don’t look directly into someone’s eyes when talking –
this is considered impolite
(sjbreeze, 2010)

20. References
Bowen, C. (2010, March 23). Speech therapy in viet nam. Retrieved from
http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/vietnam.htm
Humes, K. R., Jones, N. A., & Ramirez, R. R. (2011). Overview of race and
hispanic origin: 2010 (C2010BR-02). Retrieved from U.S. Census Bureau
website: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf
Hwa-Froelich, D., Hodson, B., & Edwards, H. (2002). Characteristics of
Vietnamese phonology. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(3),
264-273. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Reeves, T. J., & Bennett, C. E. (2004). We the people: Asians in the united states
(CENSR-17). Retrieved from U.S. Census Bureau website:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/censr-17.pdf
sjbreeze. (2010, March 18). Vietnam. Retrieved from
http://www.multicsd.org/doku.php?id=vietnam
Tang, G., & Barlow, J. (2006). Characteristics of the sound systems of monolingual
Vietnamese-speaking children with phonological impairment. Clinical
Linguistics & Phonetics, 20(6), 423-445. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.