Value-Full: A Theoretical Analysis of the Speech-Language Pathology Positionality

Abstract

In a culture built by settler colonialism (e.g., the United States), colonial values are perpetuated in cultural knowledge (e.g., its language use). Standard language practice replicates these values unless language professionals consciously work to refuse them. This paper argues that language interaction in this context cannot be value-neutral but is inherently value-full. While prior research addresses the culturo-linguistic realities of speech-language pathology clients, little work in the United States addresses the context and positionality of speech-language pathology clinicians, not only obscuring their values from view but their impact on clinical practice from scrutiny. This research conceptually framed the colonial values inherent in dominant United States culture. Using this framing as a conceptual tool, this qualitative study completed a textual analysis comparing three documents from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to two colonial value hierarchies, investigating how and to what extent colonial values are inherent in the field.