Improving speech for Spanish–English bilingual children with sound difficulties
Official title: Promoting System-Wide Change for Bilingual Children with Speech Sound Disorder
Funded at University of Iowa · NIH-11318900 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work will teach Spanish–English bilingual children with speech sound problems to produce harder speech sounds so their overall speech improves in both languages.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Iowa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Iowa City, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $194,375 |
| NIH project number | 5R21DC021249-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11318900 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Spanish–English bilingual children (young childhood/early school age) who have diagnosed speech sound disorders and difficulty producing specific speech sounds.
✕Less likely to help
Children who are not bilingual, whose speech problems are caused by hearing loss or significant neurological conditions, or older teens/adults are unlikely to benefit from this specific program.
What this research studies
You and your child would be invited to a program that focuses on practicing more complex speech sounds, like consonant clusters, that can help other sounds get better too. The team will work with Spanish–English bilingual children, provide targeted practice sessions, and track changes in speech across both languages. Children will have regular sessions at the clinic or partner sites and their speech will be measured before and after the program. The aim is to find a faster, more efficient way to help bilingual kids gain clearer speech.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could speed up speech improvement for bilingual children and reduce how long they need therapy.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work with English-only children showed that teaching more complex sounds can produce broader speech gains, but testing this approach in Spanish–English bilingual children is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Iowa
Iowa City, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Combiths, Philip Nichol — University of Iowa
- Study coordinator: Combiths, Philip Nichol
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.