Frontiers in Psychology (Jul 2023)
Bilingualism as a risk factor for false reports of stuttering in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K:2011)
Abstract
IntroductionBilingualism has historically been claimed to be a risk factor for developmental stuttering. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011) ostensibly contains evidence to test that claim.MethodsWe analyze data from monolingual and bilingual children in Kindergarten through fifth grade in the ECLS-K:2011.Results and discussionThe prevalence, male/female ratio, and onset and recovery of reported stuttering in the ECLS are inconsistent with widely-accepted clinical reports of stuttering. We argue that the reported figures may be misleading. We discuss some factors that may inflate the reported prevalence, including a lack of awareness of the difference between stuttering vs. normal disfluencies, and the informal usage of the word “stuttering” on the part of teachers and parents to describe typical disfluencies.
Keywords
