When a bilingual or multilingual child is referred for speech pathology, one question quickly rises to the top: how do you deliver therapy that helps the whole child, not just their English? If the clinician doesn't share the family's home language — or one of their home languages — how do we even get started? This is where bridging therapy comes in.
Bridging therapy is a theoretical framework. It's the why behind using home languages as part of intervention. (For what that looks like session-to-session, head to our practical companion article. For the broader evidence that bilingualism is an asset rather than a barrier, see what the research actually says.) In this article, we focus on the concept itself — where it comes from and why it matters for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families across Brisbane.
What Is Bridging Therapy?
Bridging therapy is an approach to speech pathology that uses a child's home language (or languages) as a bridge to support their overall communication development — including their English skills. Rather than treating languages as separate boxes, bridging therapy recognises that a bilingual or multilingual child's languages are deeply connected and that progress in one language can support progress in the others. Whether a family speaks two, three, or more languages at home, the same principle applies.
The idea is grounded in what we know about how bilingual brains work. Research consistently shows that the languages a bilingual person speaks are not stored in separate compartments. They share underlying knowledge, skills, and processing systems. Linguist Jim Cummins described this as the Common Underlying Proficiency — the idea that there's a shared foundation beneath all of a person's languages.
This means that when we build a skill in one language — like understanding a concept, learning a new word, or practising a sentence structure — it often transfers to the other language. Bridging therapy deliberately uses this cross-linguistic transfer to support children's communication development.
Why Therapy Should Consider All Languages
This might seem obvious, but it's surprisingly common for bilingual children to receive therapy only in English, with no consideration of their home language. There are practical reasons for this — many speech pathologists in Australia are monolingual English speakers — but it's not best practice.
Here's why it matters:
Language skills are interconnected
As we've just described, bilingual children's languages share an underlying foundation. If we only assess and treat English, we're only seeing part of the picture. A child might have strong skills in their home language that we're completely missing — or they might have difficulties across both languages that point to a genuine language difference rather than just English being their second language.Many of the bilingual families I've worked with arrive worried that their home language is "confusing" their child — and almost always, the opposite is true. When families hear that their home language is part of the solution rather than the problem, the relief in the room is immediate.
The home language is the language of family
For many bilingual families, the home language is the language of love, connection, and belonging. It's how grandparents tell stories, how parents comfort their children, and how cultural knowledge is passed down. If therapy only focuses on English, we risk sending the message that the home language doesn't matter — or worse, that it's getting in the way. That's not a message any family should receive.Bilingualism is an asset, not a problem
Bilingual children aren't at a disadvantage — they're developing a valuable skill with real cognitive and cultural benefits. Therapy should support and celebrate that. (We unpack the evidence in The Truth About Raising Bilingual Children.) Speech Pathology Australia's position statement on culturally and linguistically diverse populations is clear: clinicians should consider all of a child's languages in assessment and intervention, and support continued development of the home language.How Bridging Therapy Works
In practice, bridging therapy uses the home language as a scaffold — a support structure — to help a child build skills that transfer across languages. Here's what that can look like:
Pre-teaching concepts in the home language
Before introducing a new concept or vocabulary word in English, the family (or a bilingual co-worker or interpreter) introduces it in the home language first. When the child already understands the concept, learning the English word for it becomes much easier — they're just adding a new label to something they already know.Using home language knowledge to build English skills
If a child can produce a particular speech sound or sentence structure in their home language, the therapist can use that as a starting point for working on similar skills in English. The child isn't starting from scratch — they're extending what they already know.Supporting parents to be language models
Parents are their child's most important language models, and they're most effective in the language they speak most naturally. Bridging therapy actively encourages parents to keep using the home language — talking, reading, singing, storytelling — because every bit of language input in any language builds the child's overall communication foundation.Collaborative goal-setting
In bridging therapy, goals aren't just about English. We work with families to set goals that make sense across both languages and reflect what matters to the family. For some families, that might mean focusing on English for school readiness; for others, it might mean prioritising the home language for family connection.Who Developed This Approach?
The theoretical groundwork for bridging therapy draws on the work of several key researchers. Kathryn Kohnert has been particularly influential in developing frameworks for bilingual intervention in speech pathology. Her work emphasises that intervention for bilingual children should be planned with both languages in mind, and that strengthening the home language can support — not hinder — English development (Kohnert, 2010).
In Australia, researchers and clinicians have been adapting these frameworks to our unique multicultural context, where families may speak one of hundreds of different languages at home and where access to bilingual speech pathologists remains limited.
It's also worth acknowledging that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children may grow up navigating multiple language varieties — traditional languages, Aboriginal English, Kriol, and/or Standard Australian English — all of which are valuable parts of a child's linguistic identity. Culturally responsive speech pathology means recognising these language experiences as strengths, not deficits, and working respectfully alongside First Nations families.
Does My Child Need Bridging Therapy?
If your child is bilingual and has been referred for speech pathology, it's worth asking your speech pathologist how they plan to consider your child's home language in assessment and therapy. Some things to look for:
- Does the speech pathologist ask about all the languages your child hears and speaks?
- Do they consider your child's skills in the home language, not just English?
- Do they encourage you to keep speaking your home language with your child?
- Are they willing to work with interpreters or bilingual support workers if needed?
These are signs of a speech pathologist who understands bilingual development and is committed to supporting your whole child.
Ready for practical strategies? Read our companion article: How Bridging Therapy Works: Practical Approaches for Brisbane Bilingual Families
Alexandra Bouwmeester is a Senior Speech Pathologist (MSPA, CPSP) with experience supporting bilingual and multilingual families. She offers mobile speech pathology to families across Brisbane's south side and Logan, and regularly works with interpreters and bilingual support workers.
Every language your child speaks is valuable. If you have questions about how we can support your bilingual child's communication development, Speaking Speech Pathology would love to hear from you.
References
- Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49(2), 222–251.
- Kohnert, K. (2010). Bilingual children with primary language impairment: Issues, evidence and implications for clinical actions. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43(6), 456–473.
- Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wong, S. (2015). Supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children with speech, language and communication needs: Overarching principles, individual approaches. Journal of Communication Disorders, 58, 74–90.
