US – Brazil Cross-Linguistic Consortium in Speech and Hearing Sciences Lynn Williams, Ph.D., 1 Brenda Louw, Ph.D., 1 Ken Bleile, Ph.D., 2 Marcia Keske-Soares, Ph.D., 3 Inge Trindade, Ph.D., 4 and Nancy Scherer, Ph.D. 1 1 East Tennessee State University, 2 University of Northern Iowa, 3 Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, and 4 Universidade de São Paulo-Bauru There is an increasing need for students in speech- language pathology (SLP) and audiology (AUD) to develop competencies in cross-cultural and cross- linguistic assessment and intervention. A number of factors contribute to the need for a global curriculum in SLP and AUD, including: The majority of the world’s children speak more than one language; within the US, 17.9% of people speak a language other than English in the home (US Census Bureau, 2002). There has been a significant increase in the number of international adoptions (Glennen, 2007; U.S. Department of State, 2006). A greater number of SLPs and AUDs are participating in international outreach and development activities (Wilkinson & Skinder-Meridith, 2008). There is an increased call for international collaboration and networking of researchers, specifically in the standardization of clinical procedures (Shaw, 2004; Trindade, 2006). ASHA’s strategic plan emphasizes the importance of ASHA and its professionals to become more culturally competent as the increase in cultural diversity continues within the US (Schill & Dublinske, 2005). It is essential, therefore, to redefine education for the next generation of SLPs and AUDs to meet the increasing needs to serve the changing population of children with communication disorders, as well as the complex interaction of linguistic, social, emotional, and educational factors that are impacted. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the development of a global curriculum that is funded by the US Department of Education through the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) US- Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program to two U.S. universities and co-funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior; CAPES) to two Brazilian universities. The goals of the project will be described, along with the development of a shared research collaborative to train the next generation of clinical scientists to address the social and communicative needs of children with speech, language, and hearing impairments. The global curriculum of the consortium consist s of the following 4 key activities: Research-Based Curriculum: 3 Objectives of Inquiry Collaborative research teams will include students and faculty from each of the university partners that will follow a progression of research inquiry that is aimed to achieve the objectives listed below. To accomplish these objectives, a series of reviews and research studies are proposed with each team conducting two research projects per year: a research review study and a data-based research study. The research reviews and syntheses will follow a qualitative-quantitative continuum that includes narrative reviews, descriptive reviews, best evidence syntheses, and meta-analyses (see Dunst & Trivette, 2009; Dunst & Trivette, in press). US Institutions East Tennessee State University Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (Lead Institution) is located in the rural Southern Appalachian region of the US, which provides unique opportunities for students to work with a large number of children and families who live in poverty University of Northern Iowa Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (Partner Institution) operates a large study abroad program Brazil Institutions Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Speech, Language and Hearing Department (Lead Institution) offers a graduate program in human communication disorders, with master and doctoral degrees. Universidade de São Paulo-Bauru, Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais (HRAC-USP) (Partner Institution) performs the most cleft palate surgeries in Brazil. INTRODUCTIONCONSORTIUM PARTNERS GLOBAL CURRICULUM OUTCOMES AND SUSTAINABILITY Internet Course An internet-based course (“Different Languages, One World”) and monthly webinars will supplement the research-based curriculum. They will focus on the social, cultural, and linguistic interface of working with families and children who have communication disorders. The course and webinars will include the project staff from each university, as well as invited international guest lectures that will address a variety of topics. The long-term outcome will be development of a more globally trained and aware professional workforce within speech- language pathology and audiology. Short-term outcomes include: dissemination of collaborative research projects, as well as data on impact of a global curriculum on training graduate students in SLP/A, through conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications extension and sustainability through additional international funding opportunities continuation and expansion of international collaborations contribution to the growing literature on global curricula and international education programs Project Websites: for US for Brazilhttp:// Acknowledgement: The cross-linguistic consortium is jointly funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education (FIPSE; P116M100014) to ETSU and UNI; and the Promotion Agency of Brazilian Ministry of Education (CAPES; 094/10) to UFSM and HRAC-USP. References available upon request. PROJECT GOALS The goals of the US-Brazil Cross-Linguistic Consortium include the following:   to foster student exchange and curriculum development, as well as promote language and cultural skills, among US- Brazil speech-language pathology and audiology students.   to learn the social and cultural differences that exist in working with families from an ecological model of child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1994)   to understand communication disorders from a holistic perspective within the theoretical framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health-Children and Youth (ICF-CY; World Health Organization (WHO), 2001)   to assess the impact of communication disabilities within the unique socio-cultural contexts of families and communities that exist in the two countries. Research-Based Curriculum Internet Course Language and Cultural Training Student Exchange Objective 1 To investigate the association between communication disorders in children and limitations to life activities within the theoretical framework of the ICF-CY. Objective 2 To understand the social and cultural aspects of intervention for children with communication disorders across different etiologies Objective 3 To explore and identify resilience and risk factors in the different social and cultural contexts across different subgroups of communication disorders from a strength-based approach. Language and Cultural Training Students will take Portuguese/English lessons provided by a language tutor. The language training will be tailored to build a core vocabulary of terminology to facilitate students’ ability to function well in clinical and curricular programs of the host country. In addition, attention will be paid to developing the students’ competencies in cross- cultural interactions by focusing on the development of skills and strategies for working with interpreters / translators during assessment and intervention. The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI; Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2008) will be used to evaluate intercultural competence. The IDI measures stages within a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity that progress through ethnocentric orientations to ethnorelative orientations. Student Exchange Each US university will host 10 Brazilian students in two years (5 students from UFSM and 5 students from USP). Similarly, 10 US students will exchange to the Brazilian universities (5 students from ETSU and 5 students from UNI). Students selected to be a FIPSE Fellow will receive a $5000 language and mobility stipend to participate in the project. Students selected to be a CAPES Fellow will receive airfare plus a $4280 stipend for living and insurance expenses.