Thanks to a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, 22 graduate students at Penn State hope to alleviate the struggles of students faced with learning English for the first time.
The Multiplying Opportunities for Services and Access for Immigrant Children (MOSAIC) program will train students to diagnose communication disorders in English-language learners.
The rising Hispanic population in the United States highlights the importance of the program, said Gordon Blood, head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Speech-language pathologists sometimes diagnose communications disorders in children who are merely struggling with language barriers, he said.
"Kids who are silent aren't autistic. They're taking it all in," Blood said.
The U.S. Department of Education funded a $1 million grant to provide the additional training for 22 graduate students in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders over the course of four years. Blood is spearheading the program.
The grant began funding the students in August. It will pay students' tuition for three semesters and dispense a small stipend for graduate school. In return, the 22 students will have to commit four years of work to speech pathology once they graduate.
The program will also encourage English-language learners to maintain their own culture while learning the English language.
"English isn't going to be our primary language for much longer," said Kate Fleming (graduate-communication sciences and disorders), a student in the program. "We'll be able to improve other people's lives, as well as learn more about ourselves."
The program's current students were selected through an application and interview process.
Adam Riggle (graduate-communication sciences and disorders) said an increase in the number of bilingual students in schools emphasizes the importance of serving all students effectively.
"Whatever the goal is for that person, that's what you need to focus on," Riggle said. "These children are going to learn language differently, and we need to be prepared for that."
Blood hopes MOSAIC will serve as a model program, and said the group's findings will be presented nationally.
