University of Toronto
International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation

ICDR-Jamaica

About

Purpose

The team at ICDR-Jamaica, known historically as the Jamaican Creole Language Project, is engaged in a collaborative research initiative aimed at documenting typical and disordered speech and language development within a Jamaican context. This context considers communication profiles in a language contact situation. The overarching goals include broadening our theoretical understanding of bilingual speech and language development while also improving diagnostic practices for bilingual Jamaican children with suspected speech sound disorders (SSD) and developmental language disorders (DLD). Misdiagnosis is a critical issue in populations where two or more languages are spoken, in part due to 1) misunderstanding of what might be typical in those contexts versus those where only one language is spoken; and 2) available diagnostic and intervention resources, including benchmark data to inform practice. Over-diagnosis in these cases leads to unnecessary use of fiscal resources and under-diagnosis leaves children without the support they need

This research seeks to address these challenges through a multi-method approach that integrates behavioral assessments, acoustic methodologies, and community-based participatory collaboration with stakeholders to document and better understand speech and language development. In addition to advancing theoretical knowledge, the project aims to support the development of accurate and appropriate diagnostic tools. As part of this work, an education abroad program brings students to Jamaica for field-based research and clinical practicum experiences. This program not only supports data collection but also immerses students in culturally responsive practices, enhancing their global perspective and deepening their understanding of how language/speech difference intersects with disorder.

History

The Jamaica Education Abroad program began in 2012 by Dr. Karla N. Washington. Since then, Dr. Washington has led an annual Education Abroad trip with both clinical and research students. The data collected has led to numerous publications and presentations, expanding the understandings of speech and language development in the Jamaican context, and providing students with opportunities to enhance their research and clinical skills within a global lens.

The Jamaica work has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Canada Research Chair 2022, PI Washington); U.S. National Institutes of Health (R21DC018170; R21 DC018170-02S1); PedLLS Lab Gift Fund

Leadership

Head of Program – Dr. Karla N. Washington

Members:

  • 2025 Cohort
    • Leader: Karla N Washington
    • Program Coordinator: Nicole B. M. Bazzocchi
    • Students
      • Havane Emik
      • Renee Boney
      • Sneha Patel
      • Samantha Sergi
  • 2024 Cohort
    • Leader: Karla N. Washington
    • Program Coordinator: Nicole B. M. Bazzocchi
    • Collaborators:
      • Susanna Blagrove-Campbell
      • Kate Crowe
      • Joseph Farquharson
      • Marc Volhardt
      • Jenny Wadds
    • Students:
      • Lauren Choi
      • Katarina Miletic

Partners

  1. University of the West Indies
  2. Sisters of Mercy Dioceses
  3. Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto

Projects

Using Drawings to Understand Jamaican Children’s Talking Experiences

Recent evidence suggests that drawings offer SLPs an unbiased approach for working with typically-developing and disordered children across language contexts (Holliday et al., 2009; McCormack et al., 2010; McLeod et al., 2015)

We explore the talking experiences of young children who speak more than one language on a daily basis through drawings and self-ratings of their communication experiences.

Using Child and Adult Models as Linguistic Anchors

Without specific knowledge of dual language profiles, multilingual learners are at-risk for misdiagnosis.

We explore the role of children’s guardians and/or adults within their community in providing a linguistic anchor to inform the representativeness of children’s speech and language. We seek to develop adapted assessment tools/protocols that support culturally responsive assessment using resources that would be readily accessible to Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs).

Using Acoustic Methods to Characterize Speech Productions

We seek to understand and characterize the various productions of single words by Jamaican Creole (JC)-and English-speaking preschoolers.  The goal is to inform accuracy and production variability in language contact situations.

We build models of speech sound productions for this population to inform diagnostic accuracy.  In this effort, we use the Phon 3 software program and Praat functions for speech analysis of acoustic data, among other tools.

Intelligibility in Context Scale as an Assessment Tool

The Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS; McLeod, et al., 2012) is a validated speech screening tool that has been translated to Jamaican Creole (JC) and validated in the Jamaican context.

We investigated the clinical utility of the ICS and ICS-JC for English and JC-speaking bilingual preschoolers. This tool is freely available for use for all SLPs.

Code-Mixing and Functional Communication

We view code-mixing and switching as natural parts of bilingual development, especially for Jamaican Creole–English-speaking children, and not signs of language problems.

We study how children use both languages in everyday communication, using measures like the Index of Productive Syntax and tools like the Focus on Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS; Thomas-Stonell et al., 2010)  to better understand their functional language skills.

We use frameworks like the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF; WHO 2024) to help us tell the difference between a language disorder and a language difference, so we can support children more accurately.

Available Opportunities for Students

Opportunities to participate in the Jamaica Education Abroad program are facilitated through the SLP department and are communicated directly to eligible students.

Select Publications

2025

  1. Bazzocchi, N. B. M., Kokotek, L. E., Crowe, K., & Washington, K. N. (2025). Beyond test scores: Using drawings and language samples to characterize multilingual children’s language profiles. Seminars in Speech and Language. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0044-1801814
  2. Washington, K. N., Crowe, K., Basinger, M., & Farquharson, J. (2025). Jamaican Creole speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

2024

  1. Kokotek, L. E., Washington, K. N., Cunningham, B. J., & Acquavita, S. P. (2024). Speech-language outcomes in the COVID-19 milieu for multilingual Jamaican preschoolers and considerations for telepractice assessments. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1–20. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00164

2023

  1. Washington, K. N., Karem, R. W., Kokotek, L. E., & León, M. (2023). Supporting culturally responsive assessment practices with preschoolers: Guidance from methods in the Jamaican context. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(12), 4716–4738. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00106

2022

  1. León, M., Washington, K. N., McKenna, V. S., Crowe, K., & Fritz, K. (2022). Linguistically informed acoustic and perceptual analysis of bilingual children’s speech productions: An exploratory study in the Jamaican context. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(7), 2490–2509. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00386

2021

  1. Washington, K. N., Westby, C., Fritz, K., Crowe, K., Wright Karem, R., & Basinger, M. (2021). The narrative competence of bilingual Jamaican Creole- and English-speaking pre-schoolers. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 52, 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00013

2019

  1. Washington, K. N., Fritz, K., Crowe, K., Kelly, B., & Wright Karem, R. (2019). Bilingual preschoolers’ spontaneous productions: Considering Jamaican Creole and English. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50, 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-18-0072

Presentations

  1. Kokotek, L.E., Washington, K.N., & Bazzocchi, N.B.M. (2025, November, submitted). COVID-19 & Children’s Speech Productions: Evidence of Language Shifting in Jamaican Children. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2024 Convention. Washington, D.C., United States of America.
  2. Bazzocchi, N., Biggs, K., Hassan Haggar, & Washington, K. N. (2025, June, accepted). Revisiting computerised language sample analyses for a Caribbean-English context. International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association, Greece, Europe.
  3. Bazzocchi, N.B.M., Kokotek, L.E., Washington, K.N., (2024, December). Telepractice Considerations in the Absence of Ideal Technology: A Jamaican Case Study. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2024 Convention. Seattle, Washington, United States of America
  4. Washington, K. N. (2024, November). Supporting intentional efforts in culturally responsive practices with young children. Toronto Catholic District School Board Workshop. Toronto, Canada.
  5. Washington, K. N. (2024, September). Strengthening speech-language pathology’s future through critical reflection and intentional efforts. Emirates Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology Congress. Dubai, UAE.
  6. Washington, K. N. (2023, November). Linguistically-informed clinical practices in the Jamaican context: A case for creative and culturally-responsive practices in speech-language pathology. Symposium – Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music. Montreal, QC.
  7. Washington, K. N., Crowe, K., Basinger, M., & Farquharson, J. (2023, June). Multilingual Children’s Speech Development Seminar with 70+ Languages and Dialects (Sharynne McLeod, Chair)– Jamaican Creole. International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association, Austria, Europe.

Practice Guidelines 

  1. Intelligibility in Context Scale – Jamaican Creole

    1. Jamaican Creole Only
    2. Jamaican Creole & English
    3. Jamaican Creole Audio File

  2. Speech Participation and Activity Assessment of Children – Jamaican Creole

    1. Jamaican Creole Only
    2. Jamaican Creole & English

Contact Us

For more information, please contact Karla N. Washington

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