Literacy in English presents unique problems for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Children from these groups show a higher rate of reading difficulties than children from non-CLD backgrounds. Differences in sociocultural expectations between a school and its community can impact educational performance. This forum presents a survey of research on appropriate literacy intervention for children from CLD populations, and innovative approaches to how SLPs can support the literacy development of these populations.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• identify sociocultural factors that may influence the literacy development of children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) populations
• describe potential differences between Spanish-only and Spanish-English speaking families that would influence literacy practices and development
• describe the relationship between early preschool literacy experiences and later literacy skills in African American children
• discuss the possible relationships between mainstream cultural knowledge, ethnocultural knowledge, and literacy
• describe alternative assessment options for children from CLD populations