Philanthropic support

Today I had the opportunity to meet with Justin Williams, Development Officer from the Advancement Office at Charles Sturt University regarding potential projects for philanthropic support. What an exciting meeting that generated a lot of ideas. I look forward to working with Justin to plan ways to support children's communication locally, nationally and internationally.

Meetings

My working week is full of meetings. Some recent meetings include:

1. Faculty of Arts and Education Faculty Board Meeting (3 hours - 466 page agenda) (Role: Elected member of the Professoriate)

2. Faculty of Arts and Education Research and Graduate Studies Committee  Meeting (Role: Co-leader of Early Childhood Research Group)

3. School of Teacher Education School Board (Role: Professor)

4. School of Teacher Education Research and Graduate Studies Committee (Role: Deputy Chair)

5. VietSpeech ARC Discovery Grant team meeting (Role: Chief Investigator)

6. PhD meeting with Van Tran and co-supervisor Sarah Verdon (Role: Supervisor)

7. PhD meeting with Anniek Van Doornik (The Netherlands), Marlies Welbie and Hayo Terband (Role: Co-Supervisor)

 

Our hardworking VietSpeech team

Our ARC Discovery Grant, VietSpeech (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech), is in its final year. We have a team of really hardworking people who are entering data (Katherine White, Lily To), analysing data (Audrey Wang, Van Tran), providing consultation (Ben Pham) and writing papers (Van Tran, Audrey Wang). Sarah Verdon and I are very involved in all of the steps, but are focusing on analysing data and writing papers. Kate Margetson is on maternity leave - but has managed to find time to prepare conference papers to be presented later in the year. It is a joy to see all of this hard work coming together in a form that will be able to be shared with the academic and professional communities as well as the general public.

Sharynne and Katherine White discussing VietSpeech data entry

Dr Van Tran's PhD meeting with supervisors Sharynne and Sarah.
Van is finalising her second PhD!

Dr Cen (Audrey) analysing data using SPSS

11 journal articles are in press

The road from acceptance to publication has many steps. We currently have 11 papers that have been accepted, that do not yet have page and volume numbers. Some, but not all, are available as early online papers. Please contact me if you are interested in reading any of these papers while we await their publication.

1. McGill, N., McLeod, S., Crowe, K., Wang, C. & Hopf, S. H. (2021, in press March). Waiting lists and prioritization of children for services: Speech-language pathologists’ perspectives. Journal of Communication Disorders. 
2. Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2021, in press March). Family language policies of Vietnamese-Australian families. Journal of Child Science. 
3. Tran, V. H., McLeod, S., Verdon, S. & Wang, C. (2021, in press March) Vietnamese-Australian parents: Factors associated with language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1904963 
4. Blake, H. L., Verdon, S. & McLeod, S. (2021, in press March). Multilingual university students’ perceived English proficiency, intelligibility and participation. Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech. 
5. Wang, C., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Tran, V. H. (2021, in press February). Profiles of linguistic multi-competence in Vietnamese-English speakers. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 
6. Le, X. T. T., McLeod, S. & Phạm, B. (2021, in press February). Consonant accuracy and intelligibility of Southern Vietnamese children. Speech, Language and Hearing. 
7. Másdóttir, T. & McLeod, S. & Crowe, K. (2021, in press). Icelandic children’s acquisition of consonants and consonant clusters. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 
8. Seifert, M., Davies, A., Harding, S., McLeod, S., & Wren, Y. (2020, in press December, published online 2021). Intelligibility in 3-year-olds with cleft lip and/or palate using the Intelligibility in Context Scale: Findings from the Cleft Collective Cohort Study. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/1055665620985747 
9. McLeod, S., Margetson, K., Wang, C., Tran, V. T., Verdon, S., White, K., & Phạm, B. (2020, in press December, published 2021). Speech acquisition within a 3-generation Vietnamese-English family: The influence of maturation and ambient phonology. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics. Advance online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2020.1862915 
10. McGill, N., McLeod, S., Ivory, N., Davis, E., & Rohr, K. (2020, in press May). Randomised controlled trial evaluating active versus passive waiting for speech-language pathology. Advance online publication. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica. 
11. Blake, H. L., Verdon, S. & McLeod, S. (2019, in press February). Exploring multilingual speakers’ perspectives on their intelligibility in English. Speech, Language and Hearing. Advance online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/2050571X.2019.1585681
    

Farewell James and best wishes

Dr James Brann has been the Director, Student Communications, Division of Student Services at CSU for some time and this is his last week. I have enjoyed working with James over many years. He wrote a fantastic farewell email today - here are some excerpts - 

I’m a Charles Sturt alumni and I started my undergrad with the University in 2002. I remember walking down the huge steps of our big lecture hall in Bathurst to hear Frank Marino wow a captive audience on the small protrusions of Seasmoid bones (did I get that right Frank?), begging Denise Wood for an extension on an assignment that I had clearly forgot about, discussing how the industry is still a very elite experience and importance of equity with Alan Bain and struggling to pronounce “Piaget” (Pia-get??) during an excellent tutorial by Sharynne McLeod. At that time, I barely knew what university was about and can vividly remember relaying these new experiences to my grandfather in Gilgandra who was a retired sleeper-cutter who thought I was wasting my time and “probably should be getting a trade”. 

I know my grandfather would be proud, because I did end up getting a trade and I’m incredibly privileged to tell people that I work in education. I’ll tell anyone that listens, that education is a silver bullet and that I’ve been proud to be part of an institution that is truly student-centred with a real focus on expanding access to a high-quality education... 

I’ve seen all your work up close, and while it might not feel like it every day, for a kid like me who was the first in their family to attend university, you do make a difference. I’ll spend several years thanking everyone, but as a non-exhaustive list before I go, I would like to thank: ...Professor Sharynne McLeod who swooped in out of nowhere and was instrumental in the completion of my PhD. You’re a credit to our institution...

Thanks James. Your thoughtfulness, energy and passion for people and the public good will be missed.

Change...

2020 has been a time of great change for universities across Australia. Our government has not provided Job Keeper funding for universities (despite providing it for almost all other sectors). Universities have had disruptions as a result of many of our international students and staff not being able to travel into Australia due to COVID restrictions and many other aspects. Each university has had to address challenges of reduced funding while still providing outstanding education and research. Today Charles Sturt University announced Phase 2 of their organisational change plan.

Looking up dois

This website is really helpful https://www.crossref.org/guestquery/

An interactive technology-based tool for remote speech therapy of childhood speech sound disorders

Prof Kirrie Ballard has invited me to collaborate with her on a study titled "An interactive technology-based tool for remote speech therapy of childhood speech sound disorders" that is partially funded by an AMP Tomorrow Fund Grant. It will involve providing 50 rural children with free access to the Go Bananas! app to support their speech therapy. Here are more details explaining the project: https://www.ampstomorrowfund.com.au/tomorrow-makers/kirrie-ballard.html

We are finalising the protocol/processes now. It is going to be such a great boost to children who don't have access to speech therapy in rural areas, or who are currently on long waiting lists.

Prof Kirrie Ballard and Prof Sharynne McLeod

I am very honoured to work with Prof Ballard and her colleague Dr Beena Ahmed, who are the co-founders of Say66. They have been winning a number of awards recently.

Prof Ballard won the Speech Pathology Australia Innovation Award for 2020: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2021/02/congratulations-prof-kirrie-ballard.html

Dr Beena Ahmed is a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW. This week she won the 2021 Women in AI Award in the field of Education. https://www.womeninai.co/waiawards2021aus-nz

Women in AI (WAI) is a global network of female experts and professionals in the field of Artificial Intelligence working towards gender-inclusive AI that benefits a global society. Our mission is to close the gender gap in the field by educating the next generation of female leaders in AI and to increase female representation and participation in AI. ​ Committed to supporting and rewarding excellence to women in AI, the WAI Awards 2021 will be prestigious in their recognition and vital in building the credibility and exposure for women in AI in Australia and New Zealand.

 

Data analysis in Vietnam

Yesterday I worked with Dr Ben Pham and our masters students in Vietnam to analyse data from 30 children with speech sound disorders. This will be the largest study in the world of Vietnamese children with speech sound disorders and will provide useful information for the emerging SLP/SLT profession in Vietnam as well as across the world.

Waiting lists and prioritization of children for services: Speech-language pathologists’ perspectives

The following paper has just been accepted: 

McGill, N., McLeod, S., Crowe, K., Wang, C., & Hopf, S. H.  (2021, in press March). Waiting lists and prioritization of children for services: Speech-language pathologists’ perspectives. Journal of Communication Disorders. 

It is the second last paper to be published from Nicole McGill's PhD (Congratulations Nicole). 

Here is the abstract 

Background: Waiting lists occur when the availability of speech-language pathology services does not meet the demand. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) commonly manage waiting lists and their consequences using prioritization. 

Aims: The aims of this study were to: (1) describe speech-language pathology waiting lists for children and factors associated with their presence in workplaces throughout the world, and (2) describe factors considered in and influencing SLPs’ prioritization of children for services. 

Methods: A questionnaire about pediatric waiting lists and prioritization was completed by 267 SLPs from 10 countries working in health, disability, education, and private sectors. Valid responses to closed questions from 264 SLPs were analyzed quantitatively. 

Results: Most (73.6%) SLPs reported having a waiting list in their workplace. Waiting lists were most common in community health centres (97.4%). Waiting times ranged from 0-42 months (M = 8.09, SD = 5.84). High priority was assigned to infants (77.4%), toddlers (65.3%), children with feeding difficulties (88.5%), and children who stutter (47.4%). Prioritization parameters ranked as most important were: severity (M = 4.34), availability of resources (M = 4.11), diagnosis (M = 4.04), and age (M = 3.91). 

Conclusions: Many workplaces have long waiting lists for speech-language pathology services. Young children, feeding, and stuttering were most often considered high priority; however, prioritization can be complex, implicit, and influenced by external factors. Collaborative development of explicit, transparent waiting list and prioritization guidelines within workplaces, and the development and evaluation of active waiting strategies for children and families are recommended.

Family language policies of Vietnamese-Australian families

The following article has just been accepted for publication. 

Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2021, in press March). Family language policies of Vietnamese-Australian families. Journal of Child Science. 

This paper forms part of Van Tran's PhD within our ARC VietSpeech research project. Congratulations Van.

Here is the abstract:

Aim: To investigate reported family language policies (quy tắc sử dụng ngôn ngữ cho gia đình) and language maintenance practices among Vietnamese-Australian parents. Methodology: This mixed-methods study draws upon 151 Vietnamese-Australian parents’ responses to closed and open-ended questions within an online questionnaire that was available both in English and Vietnamese.
Data and Analysis: Bivariate analyses and logistic regression were conducted to explore associations between family language policies and factors related to demographics and Spolsky’s language policy theory. Content analysis was undertaken in NVivo to investigate family language policies.
Findings/Conclusions: A third of the participants (35.6%) reported to have a family language policy and 72.5% of those with a policy indicated that they consistently implemented their policy. Significant factors associated with having a family language policy were parents’ higher Vietnamese proficiency, more Vietnamese language use with their children, and intention of future residence in Vietnam. The four identified language policies were: using Vietnamese with the nuclear family (FLP1), Vietnamese outside the nuclear family (FLP2), English at home (FLP3), and English outside the home (FLP4). Some families used more than one of these concurrently.
Originality: This is one of the first large-scale mixed-method studies to explore family language policies, and the first to explore this issue with Vietnamese-speaking families in Australia.
Significance/Implications: Many Vietnamese-Australian families do not explicitly have a family language policy aimed at maintaining Vietnamese at home; therefore, the Vietnamese-Australian community is at risk of a shift towards English language dominance and home language loss. As a result, the benefits of multilingualism within the Vietnamese-Australian community may be lost without support from the government and community to maintain their home language.

Planning an edited book

Over the past few months a team from the Early Childhood Research Group have been planning an edited book. Our proposal is almost ready to be sent to the publishers.

Linda Mahony, Sharynne, Jenny Dwyer, Laura McFarland, Andi Salamon

Global Young Academy member - Dr Kate Crowe

Congratulations Dr Kate Crowe who has become a member of the Global Young Academy: https://globalyoungacademy.net/global-young-academy-achieves-gender-parity-of-membership-with-new-member-cohort/ 

"Each application was evaluated by at least three Selection Committee members in two successive rounds of reviews, and were scored, first and foremost, based on the excellence of their scientific research, as well as on their demonstrated societal engagement."

Speech Pathology Australia Prize for most outstanding academic performance

Holly McAlister just learned that she has been awarded the Speech Pathology Australia Prize by the Faculty of Science at Charles Sturt University for the graduating student with the most outstanding academic performance in the Bachelor course. This is such wonderful news and so well deserved. As part of her studies, Holly completed her honours degree supervised by Dr Suzanne Hopf and myself as co-supervisor. It was a pleasure to work with Holly. Here are some posts about our work with Holly here: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search?q=Holly+McAlister&max-results=20&by-date=true

Vietnamese-Australian parents: Factors associated with language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance

The following paper has just been accepted for publication. It is part of Van Tran's PhD she is undertaking within our VietSpeech ARC Discovery grant and the first journal article she has had accepted as a first author - Congratulations Van!

Tran, V. T., McLeod, S., Verdon, S. & Wang, C. (2021, in press March) Vietnamese-Australian parents: Factors associated with language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.

 Here is the abstract: 

Aim: to identify factors associated with Vietnamese-Australian parents’ language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance. Methodology: Vietnamese-Australian parents (n = 151) with children aged under 18 completed a survey regarding demographic factors and factors conceptualized by Spolsky’s language policy theory: language practices, language ideologies, and language management. 

Data and Analysis: Bivariate analyses and multiple regression models were conducted to explore associations between parents’ language use and their attitudes towards home language maintenance and associated factors. 

Findings/Conclusions: Parents’ language use with their child was significantly associated with their language practices (parents’ language use in social situations). Parents’ language use in social situations was significantly associated with language practices (parents’ Vietnamese and English proficiency, parents’ language use with their child), language management (frequency of attendance at community events), and one demographic factor (age). Parents’ attitudes towards home language maintenance was significantly associated with language ideology factors (perceptions of cultural identity, belief in the importance of English language maintenance, belief that home language strengthens relative bonds and widens career options), and one demographic factor (income). 

Significance/Implications: The results can be used to support families with Vietnamese heritage to maintain their home language by informing targeted approaches to supporting language maintenance at the community and family level.

Continuing collaborations with wonderful colleagues across the world.

Today I had a great meeting with my colleagues to continue our work supporting children with speech sound disorders. We have more plans for conference presentations, papers, and advocacy.

Rebecca McCauley, Sharynne, Lynn Williams, Elise Baker

Multilingual university students’ perceived English proficiency, intelligibility and participation

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication:

Blake, H. L., Verdon, S. & McLeod, S. (2021, in press March). Multilingual university students’ perceived English proficiency, intelligibility and participation. Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech. 

Here is the abstract:

This paper reports on 137 multilingual students enrolled at 14 English-speaking Australian universities who completed a 27-item online survey investigating the relationship between perceived English proficiency, intelligibility, and their academic, social, and vocational participation. Open-ended responses described strategies used to enhance spoken English. Participants came from 44 countries and spoke 49 home languages. Self-ratings of English communication skills were significantly affected by age, English experience, number of languages spoken, and home language. Participants reported spoken English proficiency impacted participation; however, results highlighted lack of awareness of intelligibility as an essential component of spoken language proficiency. Although environmental factors (e.g., more time using English in conversations) were associated with higher self-ratings of proficiency, participants preferred using individual strategies (e.g., listening/repeating) to support English intelligibility rather than social interactions with native speakers. The results demonstrate the importance of conversation practice in language learning to increase proficiency and confidence, as well as participation.

https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JMBS/issue/view/1810