What is it about?
This article looks at how people who speak more than one language (multilinguals) experience speech disfluencies, those interruptions in speech like “um,” repeating words, or pausing mid-sentence. Some of these disfluencies are normal, while others might be signs of a speech disorder called stuttering. We reviewed 68 studies from around the world to understand how these speech disruptions appear in multilingual people who stutter and those who don’t. We found that both groups show similar types of disfluencies, but people who stutter tend to have them more often. Interestingly, multilingual people, whether they stutter or not, tend to have more disfluencies in the language they are less comfortable or fluent in. One big takeaway is that the usual rules used to diagnose stuttering in people who speak only one language don’t always work for multilingual speakers. For example, a multilingual person might repeat words more often in their second language, not because they stutter, but because they’re still learning or thinking harder in that language. This can lead to misdiagnosis. We also found that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) sometimes mistakenly think a multilingual child has a stutter when they don’t. This happens because the SLPs apply monolingual standards to multilingual speakers, which can be misleading. In short, this research shows that we need better, more tailored ways to assess speech in multilingual people. It also highlights the importance of considering language proficiency and dominance when evaluating speech fluency.
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Why is it important?
This review is crucial because more than half of the world’s population is multilingual. Yet, most speech assessment tools are designed for people who speak only one language. Misdiagnosing a multilingual person with a stutter can lead to unnecessary therapy, stress, and stigma. By showing that multilinguals naturally have more disfluencies in their weaker language, this study helps professionals avoid these mistakes and encourages the development of better diagnostic tools that reflect real-world language use.
Perspectives
As someone who speaks five languages, I produce lots of speech disfluencies when managing across my languages, and I am deeply engaged in multilingualism and communication sciences, I find this publication both timely and essential. It bridges a critical gap between clinical practice and the lived experiences of multilingual individuals. The fact that diagnostic tools often fail to account for the natural variability in multilingual speech is something I’ve observed firsthand in diverse communities. This review not only validates those observations but also provides a roadmap for more inclusive and accurate assessment practices. What stands out most is the call for nuance: understanding that not all disfluencies are signs of a disorder, especially in multilingual contexts. It is a reminder that language is complex, dynamic, and deeply personal. This work empowers clinicians, educators, and researchers to approach multilingual speakers with greater empathy and precision.
Gizem Aslan
Universiteit Gent
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Multilingualism, Speech Disfluencies, and Stuttering: A Scoping Review, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, July 2025, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2025_jslhr-24-00479.
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