English language and literacy proficiency of students in an urban Fiji primary school

The following manuscript has just been accepted for publication:
Hopf, S. C., McDonagh, S., Wang, C., & McLeod, S. (2018, in press October). English language and literacy proficiency of students in an urban Fiji primary school. Language, Culture, and Curriculum.
Here is the link to the paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/apqScP8QGkXz4BkEBrkU/full  

This is the final paper to be accepted from Suzanne Hopf's PhD thesis that considered multilingual Fijian children's communication. Congratulations Suzanne on this important milestone.

Here is the abstract:

Fiji is a multicultural and multilingual community and English is one language taught in Fiji schools. This study aimed to describe the English language proficiency of Fiji primary school students. Direct assessment measures of 75 students’ English language (listening and speaking) and literacy (reading and writing) skills were obtained (Year 1: n = 35; Year 4: n = 40). These were examined in relation to students’ academic performance and main language spoken at home. English home language status was correlated with better English language proficiency and academic performance for students in Year 1, but not for students in Year 4. Instead, use of Fiji Hindi at home in Year 4 was related to higher proficiency on English language tasks than for Standard Fijian speakers. The importance of obtaining information about home languages in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts is emphasised. The findings of this study have implications for assessing the English proficiency of linguistically multi-competent children learning in immersion education settings.

Suzanne with her PhD that consists of 1 book chapter and 8 journal articles!

Here is the final list of publications from Suzanne's PhD thesis:

1. Hopf, S. C., & McLeod, S. (2015). Services for people with communication disability in Fiji: Barriers and drivers of change. Rural and Remote Health, 15, 2863. 
2. Hopf, S. C. (2014). Services for people with communication disability in Fiji: Clinical insights. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 16(2), 81-86. 
3. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., McDonagh, S., & Rakanace, E. (2017). Communication disability in Fiji: Community cultural beliefs and attitudes. Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, 28(1), 114-143. doi:10.5463/DCID.v28i1.600 
4. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., McDonagh, S. H., Wang, C., & Rakanace, E. R. (2017). Communication disability in Fiji: Community self-help and help-seeking support. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/17549507.2017.1337226 
5. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., & McDonagh, S. H. (2017a). Linguistic multi-competence of Fiji school students and their conversational partners. International Journal of Multilingualism. 15(1), 72-91. doi:10.1080/14790718.2016.1241256 
6. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., & McDonagh, S. H. (2017b). Fiji school children’s multilingual language choices when talking with friends. In M. Theobald (Ed.). Friendship and peer culture in multilingual settings. Sociological studies of children and youth (Vol. 22) (pp. 55-88). Bingley, UK: Emerald. 
7. Hopf, S. C., McDonagh, S. H., Wang, C., & McLeod, S. (2018, in press). English language and literacy proficiency of students in an urban Fiji primary school. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 
8. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., & Geraghty, P. (2016). A contrastive analysis of the phonologies of two Fiji English dialects: A diagnostic guide for speech-language pathologists. Speech, Language, Hearing, 19(2), 96-104. doi:10.1080/2050571X.2015.113303 
9. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S., & McDonagh, S. H. (2017c). Validation of the Intelligibility in Context Scale with school students in Fiji. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 31(7-9), 487-502. doi:10.1080/02699206.2016.1268208