ABC radio interview

This morning I had a radio interview with Bec Simmons from ABC Gippsland and Goulburn-Murray 9:25-9:38am to talk about children's speech acquisition. The interview was prompted by this CSU news release: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/when-do-children-learn-speech-sounds We covered speech acquisition, multilingualism, transition to school, and the impact of mask-wearing during COVID on children's speech and language.

Congratulations Dr Ben Pham - Outstanding Researcher of the Year

We were so excited to hear Dr Ben Pham's news. On 20th November 2020 (Vietnamese Teachers' Day) she was:

• Promoted to Senior Lecturer 
• Awarded "Outstanding Researcher of the Year" at Ha Noi National University of Education (HNUE).

Here is the link about her award: https://hnue.edu.vn/KHCN/ThongtinKHCN/tabid/446/Category/21/News/8404/ThongbaoketquaGiaithuongKhoahocCongnghecapTruongnam2020.aspx

She wrote the following words to our Speech-Language-Multilingualism SLM) team:

I could not have achieved this without your support. I am very grateful to be a member in our SLM team and each of you has contributed to my success (though I am very humbled to use the word 'my success'). I would like to say thankyou to all of you. 

I am currently leading a group of Vietnamese researchers in Speech and Language at my university. We are keen on learning from you about research methods for conducting good quality research projects in children's speech, language and communication. I hope the SLM team members could share your experience with our group here.

Congratulations Dr Ben - we are so proud of you - and look forward to our ongoing collaborations.

ECV2020 ECRG watching sessions together

Each lunchtime this week the Early Childhood Research Group have watched an ECV2020 keynote presentation (or two) then discussed it together. Today we watched Laureate Professor Marilyn Fleer's presentation.

Impact - The Informed SLP blogpost about Crowe & McLeod (2020)

 The Informed SLP has written another blogpost about our work

https://www.theinformedslp.com/how-to/the-not-new-speech-norms-part-2-an-american-tale

This time it is titled "The Not-New Speech Norms Part 2: An American Tale". The byline is "Say hello to the: Early 13, Middle 7, and Late 4?!"

Flash forward to the present day. This intrepid team of researchers is back with another review, summarizing all the consonant acquisition data (15 studies of 18,907 children) specific to US English. So for any skeptics who thought the 2018 results were skewed by encompassing data from multiple countries... sadly no. Actually, a few sounds show up earlier than in the first study.
Bid a fond farewell to the Early/Middle/Late 8, and say hello to the new (if less handy to remember):
Early 13: /b, p, n, m, d, h, w, t, k, ɡ, f, ŋ, j/ (Age 2–3)
Middle 7: /v, ʤ, l, ʧ, s, ʃ, z/ (Age 4)
Late 4: /ʒ, ɹ, ð, θ/ (Age 5–6)

The blogpost relates to this article we have written:

Crowe, K., & McLeod, S. (2020). Children's English consonant acquisition in the United States: A review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/doi:10.1044/2020_AJSLP-19-00168

Connecting with colleagues in Queensland

 The borders between NSW and Queensland are open, so I have been enjoying connecting with colleagues in Queensland. I have caught up with Emeritus Professor Lindy McAllister and discussed her work with the Trinh Foundation in Vietnam. I had dinner with Anna Cronin to celebrate her great PhD results. I also visited the new Education building at Queensland University of Technology.

E block at QUT

Emeritus Professor Lindy McAllister

Sharynne and Dr Anna Cronin

Early Childhood Voices 2020 Conference - Statistics from day 1

The Early Childhood Voices 2020 Conference began yesterday (16th November, 2020). The committee met this morning to run over some of the statistics from day 1. WOW!

Registrations  = 2,758 from 70 countries

CSU YouTube channel (whole of CSU): views up 35,800 more than usual yesterday with 57 new subscribers

ECV2020 YouTube channel in the last 24 hours: 

• ECV2020 welcome video – 418 views
• Keynote 1 (Lundy) – 411 views
• Keynote 3 (Fleer) – 158 views 
• Keynote 5 (Dockett & Perry) – 179 views
• Keynote 6 (Osgood) – 152 views

(we have had some technical issues with some of the other keynotes, that should be sorted now)

• Paper 101 (Cumming) – 145  views
• Paper 102 (Crowe) – 100 views 
• Paper 107 (Downey) – 70 views
• Paper 111 (McLeod & Crowe) – 72 views 
• Paper 158 (Nakatsubo) – 58 views
• Paper 175 (Robbie Warren) – 52 views

The presentations from the CSU ECRG members are getting a lot of views. 

Also, CSU has published another news release: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/when-do-children-learn-speech-sounds

Venus International Women's Award - Shortlisted

I have just learned that I have been nominated for and shortlisted for the Venus International Women's Award in the Health Sciences category http://www.venusinfo.org/

https://www.venusinfo.org/research/2021/pdf/viwa2021list-I.pdf

 

Engagement and impact from Dr Michelle Brown's postdoc

 Dr Michelle Brown's postdoc with me will end in a few weeks' time. It has been a fantastic time of establishing her StoryBabies research program (we even coined the term during her postdoc). She has had rich engagement opportunities with speech pathologists, educators and librarians across Australia. She has led the Library Talks for Speech Pathology Austrlalia and the Australian Librarians Association. A longer list will be uploaded soon. It has been a pleasure working with her. 

Early Childhood Voices Conference 2020 - all the links and information

Early Childhood Voices  Conference ECV2020

The Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2020) is a FREE international multidisciplinary conference sharing research about innovative methods, theories and partnerships with children, families and practitioners that supports social justice during early childhood or within the early childhood sector. International speakers will present research in a virtual online space about innovations to improve the lives of children, families and practitioners during early childhood (generally birth-8 years) or within the early childhood sector. ECV2020 will be held entirely online and asynchronously; that is, you can watch the presentations anytime during the conference. There is no registration fee and no fees to present or view the presentations. The conference will be held from 16th to 20th November 2020.

• Conference website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2020/
• Conference papers: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/welcome-to-ecv2020/
• ECV2020 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcSAl_dA7a29Dwe62u5O3CjgIQcaVMY 
  
• ECV2020 registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/early-childhood-voices-conference-2020-ecv2020-tickets-118414277291  
• Conference procedings book: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ECV2020-BOOK-FINAL.pdf
  
• Interactive map of registrations: https://csu-span.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9741efbaca9545fcbdda4342e0035eea
  
• CSU Early Childhood Research Group website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/
• ECRG Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/240093224084969
• ECRG Twitter: @ECRG_CSU  #ECV2020
  

In the news

• CSU news release 1: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/strong-international-registrations-for-online-early-childhood-conference
• CSU news release 2: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/when-do-children-learn-speech-sounds 
• CSU news release 3: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/teachers-can-help-children-who-are-experiencing-separation-and-divorce
• The Early Education Show: https://www.earlyeducationshow.com/episodes/episode138 (1 hour)
• CSU Recognising Excellence Daily (RED): https://csu.rewardgateway.com.au/SmartPress/Article/6397/20201126_1731069

ECV2020 map of registrations

 

10am on 16th November 2020 - Our first morning...

• Registrations  = 2678
• Views in the first hour. Welcome - 120 views; Keynote 1 (Lundy) - 64 views; Keynote 2 (Gillon) - 28 views (Gillon); Keynote 3 - 20 views; Keynote 5 (Dockett & Perry) - 19 views; Keynote 6 (Osgood) - 20 views; Keynote 8 (Emery) - 10 views; 101 (Cumming) - 32 views; 103 - 10 views; 106 - 10 views; 108 - 13 views; 111 - 13 views; 115 - 11 views; 126 - 13 views

 

VietSpeech SuperSpeech Group - Week 5

This evening was week 5 of our 8-week VietSpeech SuperSpeech Group. Our wonderful families were ready for their photo and agreed that we could share it on social media. We are having such a great time encouraging home language maintenance - and the superhero skills of speaking two languages.

VietSpeech team: Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Audrey Wang, Sarah Verdon, Van Tran

https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/overview

Congratulations Holly on your fantastic Honours result!

Today Holly McAlister found out she achieved an H1 for her honours degree. A well deserved result. It has been such a priviledge to work with Holly this year. Best wishes for your future career as a speech pathologist Holly. I hope that you consider undertaking more research in the future.

Congratulations DR McGILL

 The PhD journey is a long one. Today Nicole McGill became Dr Nicole McGill as she received her PhD testamur. Due to COVID-19 this occurred via email - but we will celebrate heartily with our virtual PhD graduation on 18th December. CONGRATULATIONS Dr McGill.

Early Childhood Voices 2020 Conference statistics - one week before it begins

The latest statistics about our Early Childhood Voices 2020 Conference are amazing: 

• 8 keynote presentations
• 93 oral presentations from 17 countries
• 2102 registrations from 70 countries (+ "unknown location")
  
• 4438 page views of our ECV2020 website in the past month
• One busy and very happy conference committee
  

Registrations are from: Albania Argentina Armenia Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Bhutan Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Cambodia Canada Chile China Costa Rica Croatia Denmark Fiji Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kuwait Latvia Macau SAR China Malaysia Malta Mexico Moldova Morocco Myanmar (Burma) Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Russia Samoa Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe 

 

CSU News has run the following story: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/strong-international-registrations-for-online-early-childhood-conference

Thank you everyone - next week is going to be spectacular!
Details here: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2020/

ECV2020 conference committee meeting - 10 November 2020

SPA Speechie Library Talks

Congratulations to my postdoctoral scholar, Dr Michelle Brown, who has collaborated with Speech Pathology Australia to present the Speechie Library Talks across Australia. 

https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library 

This event was launched at the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards today.

She is also organising short courses for librarians, early childhood educators and speech pathologists about early storybook reading. 

Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award

Today Speech Pathology Australia held an online version of their Book of the Year Award. Some amazing books by passionate authors.

My postdoc Dr Michelle Brown has been very involved in supporting SPA in this event and their focus on reading with children in Speechie Library Talks https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library

Nick Dent mentioned he had speech therapy as a child.
He was chosen to read his book about kindness at the event.

Speech Pathology Australia Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Position Paper Working Party

Today was the first meeting of the Speech Pathology Australia Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Position Paper Working Party chaired by Dr Sarah Verdon. What an inspirational and diverse committee with a shared goal. It is a priviledge to be involved.

ECV2020 preparation and promotion

CSU News has begun their series of news stories to promote ECV2020:

https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/strong-international-registrations-for-online-early-childhood-conference

Meanwhile in the background the team are busy:

Belinda Downey, Greta and Sharynne checking the reviews of the video presentations

SLM supporting cultural and linguistic diversity in our profession and the world

Members of our SLM team are writing a paper together across timezones: 7am Reykjavik - 6pm Sydney - 7pm Fiji. It is so wonderful talk about our ideas and dreams for supporting cultural and linguistic diversity in our profession and the world.

 

Grant writing

Grant writing is intensive work because it must present cutting-edge, ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting ideas. The thinking and synthesis of years of research and long-term dreams for the future of the nation and the world must be packaged into a small number of pages that outline a feasible and cost-effective solution to a 'wicked' problem. I have been honoured to intensively take the past few months to coalesce my grand vision into a grant application. I have had the ear of many senior and trusted colleagues in CSU, across Australia and the world to challenge my thinking, hone my explanations, and assist me to generate the best possible use of grant funds to make a difference in children's lives. The grant I have submitted had a 9.6% success rate last year. Now it is over to the assessors and grant body to consider my "grand vision".

Executive Dean John McDonald - who had weekly mentoring meetings with me

Lee Williamson, grants mentor

Annette Harris from the CSU Research Office