Holidays and family time ...

I am very happy to have a month of summer holidays to spend time with the most precious people in my life.

Special issue of IJSLP on Sustainable Development Goals

Last night Professor Julie Marshall and I met to consider the 67 submissions to the special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology addressing “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and people who experience communication and/or swallowing disability” We had an overwhelming response to our call for EOIs with many more submitted than we had imagined. The scope of work being undertaken across the world to support people who experience communication and/or swallowing disability is outstanding. We spent many hours deliberating about how to meet the page limits of the special issue. In the end we prioritised papers that met the following guidelines from our call for papers: 

“Expressions of interest are sought from authors across the world in a variety of disciplines. Commentaries are encouraged from people who live and work in Majority World countries (including low and middle-income countries and small island states) and people who have lived experience of communication and / or swallowing disability. The aim is to cover EVERY SDG – so be creative.”

We are contacting authors regarding their outcomes today and tomorrow.

 

Our VietSpeech ARC Discovery Grant (DP180102848) is officially finished

Today Sarah Verdon and I met for the last time to work on our Final Report to the Australian Research Council describing all we have achieved over the past 4 years during our VietSpeech ARC Discovery Grant (DP180102848). Wow! We have been so productive and our research has impacted so many people in Australia and across the world. We are really proud of our team. 

The CSU Director of Research stated that we had written "a good report at the end of an excellent project".

In 2022, there are a few more papers to finalise, and Kate Margetson (PhD) and Sarah Faulks (Honours) will be continuing analysing some of the data, but from the perspective of CSU and the Australian Research Council we are officially finished.

Thanks Evelyn

Evelyn Sowter has been employed as my Professorial Research Assistant on our Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP180102848) from April to the end of December 2021. Evelyn has been an extremely valuable member of our VietSpeech research team. She has been meticulous, methodical and ethical in all of her work. I am disappointed that our grant funding has come to an end so that I cannot continue to employ her. I wish her all the best.

Drawing talking: Listening to children with speech sound disorders

The following manuscript has just been accepted for publication in a special issue: 1. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J. & Holliday, E. L. (2021, in press). Drawing talking: Listening to children with speech sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.

Here is the abstract:

Purpose. Listening to children using age-appropriate techniques supports evidence-based clinical decision-making. In this paper we test the Sound Effects Study Drawing Protocol, an arts-based technique, to support children with speech sound disorder (SSD) to express their views about talking.

Method. Participants were 124 Australian children aged 4- to 5-years in the Sound Effects Study. Their parents and teachers were concerned about their talking and they were assessed as having SSD on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology. Drawings and children’s interpretations were elicited then analysed using the: (1) Who Am I? Draw-a-Person Scale and (2) Sound Effects Study Focal Points. 

Results. Drawings were developmentally typical for 4- to 5-year-olds. The six Sound Effects Study Focal Points were identified: Body parts and facial expressions, Talking and listening, Relationships and connection, Positivity, Negativity, and No talking. Participants portrayed talking and listening as an action requiring mouths and ears represented by symbols (letters, speech bubbles) or as an activity with a variety of people. Children typically portrayed themselves as happy when talking; however, some portrayed negativity and some chose not to draw talking. 

Conclusions. In keeping with Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 2009), this research demonstrated that 4- to 5-year-old children with SSD can express their views about talking via drawing. Professionals may use drawings as a child-friendly technique to support children to express views to guide holistic, evidence-based, child-centred speech-language pathology practice.

New book contract with Springer “Early childhood voices in the lives of children, families, and practitioners”

Today we received news that our Springer book proposal titled “Early childhood voices in the lives of children, families, and practitioners” has been accepted for inclusions in the International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development series and a contract will be coming soon. Congratulations to my fellow editors Linda Mahony, Andi Salamon and Jenny Dwyer.

ASHA Board Certification in Child Language

I have received  an invitation to receive ASHA Board Certification in Child Language www.ChildLanguageSpecialist.org:

Congratulations from the American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders (ABCLLD) on receiving Honors of the association! As you know, the mission of the ABCLLD is to promote high-quality services by speech-language pathologists to children and adolescents. To meet this charge, the Board encourages exemplary clinicians and administrators to apply for certification of their expertise in child language. Because you are a leader in child language and have been recognized by ASHA for your advanced knowledge, skills, leadership, and experience, you are invited to receive Board Certification in Child Language (BCS-CL). 

I am the first International Affiliate to receive ASHA Honors, so Linda Schreibner (Chair, American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders) wrote: 

It is because of you -- as the first person in the world to receive ASHA Honors as an International Affiliate and ASHA’s new position on equivalent certifications -- that we were able to revise our requirements. We would be honored if you would consider becoming Board Certified in Child Language.  

Thank you!

 

Being a referee

It is that time of year when I am invited to be a referee by people I know (e.g., for jobs, scholarships), AND by others who want to nominate people I know for awards. It is my great honour to spend time reflecting on the contributions of these people. I work with amazing colleagues! Although it is a timeconsuming, it is an important task. I hope that everyone is rewarded for their dreams and efforts.

Working internationally - living in Australia

It is almost Christmas and summer in Australia and the nation is thinking about holidays. Some universities are already closed for the summer holidays. Charles Sturt University closes on Christmas Eve (24 December) and reopens on 4th January. Most academic staff take their four weeks of annual leave from just before Christmas and do not return to work until late January/February. 

I work with people all across the world. Many countries do not celebrate Christmas. Many countries celebrate Lunar New Year in February, not the Western calendar New Year in January.

As a result, for many people it is business as usual at the moment, and for some it is their busy time of year as it is cold and wintery - so they are in their offices working hard.

Each year at this time, I find it tricky to navigate my need for a holiday and to celebrate with my community with the work-based needs of my international colleagues. For example, here is a Doodle Poll I received today for an executive board meeting for an international association.

I often think about significant international holidays (e.g., Hannukah, Thanksgiving, Diwali, Lunar New Year), but am unaware of all of the traditions surrounding them - particularly how many days surrounding the holiday are spent with family and friends.

Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship congratulations

Congratulations to Kate Margetson (full time PhD) and Holly McAlister (part time PhD) who have just been offered an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship to support their Higher Degree by Research Program.

Proud PhD supervisors: Sarah Verdon, Sharynne, Suzanne Hopf

Additionally, Belinda Downey just found out that she was successful in gaining a Charles Sturt University Academic Higher Degree by Research Workload Support Scheme Grant. Congratulations everyone!

A viewpoint on accent services: Framing and terminology matter

This is an interesting new article: Grover, V., Namasivayam, A., & Mahendra, N. (2021). A viewpoint on accent services: Framing and terminology matter. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00376 

It includes a discussion of intelligibility enhancement, a term coined by Helen Blake and used within her PhD research:

“A key issue is whether terms like accent modification, accent reduction, or accent elimination are misnomers, as researchers have questioned whether accents can be completely changed or eliminated in adulthood (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996; Flege et al., 1995). We consider the term intelligibility enhancement (Blake, 2020) as a more accurate descriptor of services because of its emphasis on a shared responsibility for intelligibility, successful speaker–listener interactions, and on functional communication in context. On critical analysis, however, even this descriptor “intelligibility enhancement” is inadequate and misrepresentative because it fails to convey that an accented speaker is fully intelligible in their L1 (if not English) and also intelligible in their accented English or World English to speakers who share their linguistic or cultural background or who have been previously exposed to their accent...”

SBS Radio Broadcasts - Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Maintaining Vietnamese together

Here are Dr Van Tran's SBS Radio Broadcasts to date. Her program was first broadcast in October 2021 and was rated in November as the Highest Performing Language Other than English (LOTE) content (among SBS programs in 68 other languages) with 10 thousand unique Australian visitors.

12/12/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Nói ngọng là tại hướng đình? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: Children’s communication disorders and home language maintenance] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/noi-ngong-la-tai-huong-dinh
5/12/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Thuận vợ thuận chồng, khác “tông” con vẫn không lạc tiếng [Maintaining Vietnamese together: One parent one language policy - Successful home language maintenance in intermarriage families ] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/thuan-vo-thuan-chong-khac-tong-van-khong-lac-tieng
28/11/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Như thế nào là tiếng Việt chuẩn? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: What is standard Vietnamese?] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/nhu-the-nao-la-tieng-viet-chuan?fbclid=IwAR2W_O33cHAOJSPL10WRmBJybXQh0PiPu8V0Er94GmHzMBVjOxmz5UuJF3g
21/11/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Nghe các bạn teen nói [Maintaining Vietnamese together: What do teens say about Vietnamese language maintenance?] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/cung-giu-tieng-viet-nghe-ca-c-ba-n-teen-noi?fbclid=IwAR3rnjX5CperYUJUGdd4bbBqzUuNLu3VpopuN326g-OTgnuQceKsah1FAy4
14/11/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Bố mẹ có đơn thương độc mã khi giữ tiếng Việt cho con? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: Are parents the only “gatekeepers” in home language maintenance?] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/cu-ng-giu-tie-ng-vie-t-bo-me-co-don-thuong-doc-ma-khi-giu-tieng-viet-cho-con?fbclid=IwAR26eySa9OrpBJULdZ2T6qHFCgHp8LjpGUQhfd--vENHR3LiaGzICYNN8x4
7/11/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Tôi đã giúp con học tiếng Việt như thế nào? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: How did I help my children maintain Vietnamese?] sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/toi-da-giup-con-giu-tieng-viet-nhu-the-nao?cid=lang%3Asocialshare%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR3IVabIA1j9HYVkgE14_lzwgfiS2JhHAsv3FMIuETdKHJmbRb9H1-eM_BY
31/10/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Có nên lo lắng về tiếng Anh khi giữ tiếng Việt cho con? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: Should I worry about English when maintaining home language?] sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/co-nen-lo-lang-ve-tieng-anh-khi-muon-giu-tieng-viet-cho-con
24/10/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Em đã học tiếng Việt như thế nào? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: How did I learn Vietnamese?] https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/em-da-ho-c-tie-ng-vie-t-nhu-the-na-o?cid=lang%3Asocialshare%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR0NsP_RkCmDtwCiuJ3h9ZMyobvgzSW7DGVkVQDWmjWqKroK0Lu25kkwiFk
17/10/2021	Cùng giữ tiếng Việt: Tại sao bạn lại muốn giữ tiếng Việt cho con? [Maintaining Vietnamese together: Why do you want your children to maintain Vietnamese?] sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/cu-ng-giu-tie-ng-vie-t-tai-sao-ba-n-lai-muon-giu-tieng-viet-cho-con?cid=lang%3Asocialshare%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR1IrZJcgxba___iGZ_oCSbcrRmmm-SV_s9Y_65g76YSsYbDO1Nsl21Lco8
5/2/2021	VietSpeech SuperSpeech: Supporting Viet families to maintain home language and develop bilingualism https://www.sbs.com.au/language/vietnamese/audio/the-he-thu-hai-day-tieng-viet-va-phat-trien-song-ngu-cho-con-voi-du-an-vietspeech?fbclid=IwAR17CgvIjcVx3fTGYc3tGKT5ro7w2J2cOBivW4R4fwqVD-HMu2hRdSqWiyg

SuperSpeech: Multilingual speech and language maintenance intervention for Vietnamese-Australian children and families via telepractice

The following manuscript from our ARC Discovery Grant has just been accepted for publication 

McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Tran, V. H., Margetson, K., & Wang, C. (2021, in press). SuperSpeech: Multilingual speech and language maintenance intervention for Vietnamese-Australian children and families via telepractice. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. 

Here is the abstract 

Purpose. To evaluate the effectiveness of the group VietSpeech SuperSpeech program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance via telepractice. 

Method. In Stage 1 of this pilot feasibility study using a case-controlled design, 30 Vietnamese-English-speaking children were assessed in English and Vietnamese and parents completed questionnaires about speech and language competency and practices. During Stage 2, children were allocated to Intervention (n=14) or Control (n=16) conditions. COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes including non-random allocation. Online group intervention was delivered 1-hour/week for 8 weeks encouraging multilingualism as a superpower. For Stage 3, assessments were undertaken approximately 10 weeks after the pre-intervention assessment. 

Results. Parents in the Intervention group significantly increased encouragement of their children to speak Vietnamese. The Intervention group significantly increased intelligibility in English. Growth of Vietnamese vocabulary was faster for the Control group. There was a moderate effect of intervention for children’s perception of being happy talking in Vietnamese and English. There was no significant mean change from pre- to post-intervention compared with the Control group for measures of speech sound accuracy in Vietnamese or English, Vietnamese intelligibility, English vocabulary, or hours of Vietnamese spoken each week. 

Conclusions. This study presents preliminary evidence that this 8-hour online group program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance had some impact on Vietnamese-Australian children’s speech and home language maintenance. Further research involving a randomized trial is warranted.

 

School of Education Christmas Party 2021

Our School of Education Christmas Party was online again...

...and included conversation about the dramatic rise in COVID cases over the past few days (NSW has 2,213 cases in the past 24 hours, 93.3% double vaccinated) and the potential impact on Christmas and holiday celebrations. Charles Sturt University issued an email this morning to all students and staff indicating that to be on campus in 2022 people need to be double vaccinated.

New collaboration regarding the relationship between the primary dentition and children's speech

 Today I met with Caitlin Hurley and Robert from the University of Western Australia. Caitlin is undertaking a Doctorate in Clinical Dentistry and 30% of the degree involves research. I will be collaborating with Caitlin and her primary supervisor Robert to support her research into the relationship between the primary dentition and children's speech. I look forward to this new collaboration.

CSU Early Career Researcher (ECR) Grant Scheme

Congratulations to the successful applicants in the Charles Sturt University Early Career Researcher (ECR) Grant Scheme (AUD $25,000). The following people that I mentored have been informed this morning that they were successful: 

• Suzanne Hopf
• Shukla Sikder
  
• Heather Boetto 
• Brian Moore
• Jess Sears
  

Associate Editors and Editorial Board Members for Speech, Language and Hearing

Look at the list of Associate Editors for Speech, Language and Hearing. Three are my ex-PhD students and two ex-students are on the Editorial Board. I am so proud of them! 

Editor in Chief: Dr Anna Miles, New Zealand 

Associate Editors 

• Dr. Helen L. Blake, Australia*
• Dr Karen Chan, Hong Kong
• Dr Kate Crowe, Australia/Iceland*
• Dr Phoebe MacRae, New Zealand 
• Dr Nicole McGill, Australia*
  
• Dr. Holly F. B. Teagle, New Zealand
• Ms. Kylie Wall, Australia
• Dr Sarah Wallace, Australia

Editorial Board

• Dr Thomas Law, Hong Kong
• Dr Kathy Lee, Hong Kong
• Dr Kartini Ahmad Mal, Malaysia
  
• Dr Vinaya Manchaiah, United States
• Dr Carly Meyer, Australia
• Dr Jane McCormack, Australia*
• Dr Phoebe McCrae, New Zealand
• Prof. Sharynne McLeod, Australia
• Dr Brad McPherson, Hong Kong
• Dr Emilia Michou,  Greece 
• Dr Kevin Munro, United Kingdom
• Dr Benjamin Munson, United States
• Dr Greg O'Beirne, New Zealand
• Dr Mike Robb, New Zealand
• Dr Anna Rumbach, Australia
• Dr Christos Salis, United Kingdom
• Dr N. Shivashanka, India
• Dr Carol To, Hong Kong
• Dr Sarah Verdon, Australia*
• Dr Kylie Wall, Australia
• Prof. Liz Ward, Australia
• Prof. Linda Worrall, Australia
• Prof. Edwin Yui, Hong Kong

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=editorialBoard&journalCode=yslh20

Growing up Bilingual: Tips and Resources for Parents Raising Emerging Bilingual and Multilingual Children

I just learned about this great resource: Growing up Bilingual: Tips and Resources for Parents Raising Emerging Bilingual and Multilingual Children AAN MacLeod, C Demers - 2021 Tips & Resources for Parents Page 1 Where can you use your home language? What are resources in your family and your community? How much time can you use your home language? What resources can help you? Games? Books? Songs and poems …

Sturt Scheme Round Table

This afternoon I participated in the Sturt Scheme Round Table. I am one of four leaders on the Accelerating Interdisciplinary Education Research (AIER) Sturt Scheme that is funded by CSU for 3 years. The Group Leads of each Sturt Scheme gave a 10 minute presentation about their projects and project plans for 2022. Invitees to the Sturt Scheme Round Table were DVCR (on leave), PVC-RI, Executive Deans and Faculty Executive Officers, ADRs and Group Leads of each project.

Belinda's last PhD meeting for 2021

It has been wonderful to work with Belinda Downey on her PhD during 2021. I have enjoyed working with Belinda and her two supervisors Will Letts and Tamara Cumming. Here is a photo from our meeting today.

Belinda, Sharynne, Will, Tamara

SBS podcast interview

Today I was interviewed by Dr Van Tran for her weekly SBS podcast. We talked about the impact of having speech, language and communication needs on children's educational and social outcomes. I talked about the research we have undertaken using the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Thanks Van for the opportunity to speak with your Vietnamese listeners.

Dr Van Tran interviewing Sharynne

Faculty of Arts and Education - Final Faculty Board Meeting for 2021

I am an Elected Member of the Professoriate on the Faculty of Arts and Education - Faculty Board. Today was the last meeting of the year (we meet every 2 months). The agenda was only 158 pages today (short!) for our 3-hour meeting. It has been an honour to serve on the board this year. My term ends June 2022.

Launch of VietSpeech: Multilingual Children/Trẻ em Đa ngữ

Yesterday we launched the web page and book titled "VietSpeech: Multilingual Children/Trẻ em Đa ngữ" https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/info This book aims to support Vietnamese-Australian children and families to maintain their home language and enhance speech skills in Vietnamese and English. Cuốn sách này nhằm hỗ trợ trẻ em và các gia đình Việt nam ở Úc duy trì tiếng Việt và cải thiện kỹ năng phát âm tiếng Việt và tiếng Anh. Download the entire 52 page book for VietSpeech Multilingual Children/Trẻ em Đa ngữ [PDF]

VietSpeech farewell

Today was the final official day of the VietSpeech ARC Discovery Grant. We celebrated our achievements and accomplishments with an online Zoom party.

We launched a new page of the VietSpeech website today providing our workbook and resources for families: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/info. The workbook is titled "VietSpeech Multilingual Children/Trẻ em Đa ngữ"

Congratulations Sarah Verdon - Most productive Early Career Researcher in the School of Allied Health, Exercise & Sports Sciences

Today Sarah Verdon was congratulated on her 2021 Faculty of Science and Health Research Award by the Dean of Science and Health at CSU. Congratulations Sarah!

This award is to recognise your exemplary contribution to dissemination of your research through quality publications and through your positive actions to seek funding for your research. You have been identified by the Charles Sturt Research Productivity Index as our most productive Early Career Researcher in the School of Allied Health, Exercise & Sports Sciences. Your research outputs and performance show dedication to creating and sharing knowledge and contributing to our University purpose of creating a world worth living in. Well done on this achievement and this recognition of your research success. Yours sincerely, Megan Smith

 

2021 Most Productive Researcher Award for the Faculty of Arts and Education

I just received the following awards!

Professor Sharynne McLeod is one of our 2021 Faculty Research Awards winners. Sharynne is the winner of the Most Productive Female Researcher Award and the Most Productive Researcher Award (by Overall Category A RPI Points) for the Faculty of Arts and Education. 

 Sharynne is a speech-language pathologist and professor of speech and language acquisition at Charles Sturt University, in the School of Education. She is an international research leader. In 2021, she was the first International Affiliate to receive Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) since the award began in 1944. ASHA has over 218,000 members. The Australian Newspaper named her as Australia’s Research Field Leader in Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and “best in the world based on the quality, volume and impact of work” in 2019.

Sharynne's many achievements and contributions to our University and broader community are remarkable. She is Co-Chair of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech, and Deputy Chair of the Child Speech committee of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Executive Council Member of the Asia Pacific Society for Speech, Language and Hearing. A Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Winner of Editor’s Awards from the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing: Speech (2018, awarded in 2019), the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2019, awarded in 2020), and Topics in Language Disorders (2020, awarded in 2021). As well as having been an invited keynote speaker at many American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conventions, and at conferences and universities all around the world. 

 Previously, Sharynne was also editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (Q1), Vice President of the International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association, and Elected Board Member of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP).

Tell us a bit about your research?

My research focuses on monolingual and multilingual children's speech acquisition. I also research the prevalence and impact of childhood speech sound disorders and link to policy and service delivery issues.

In the past decade Sharynne has been awarded over $1.6M from the Australian Research Council to undertake research supporting children’s speech, language and communication, and has been an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She has co-authored 11 books and over 230 peer reviewed journal articles and chapters focusing on children’s speech acquisition, speech sound disorders, and multilingualism. 

How does your research impact Charles Sturt and our community?  

My research aligns with the Resilient People and Flourishing Communities spheres of Charles Sturt’s 2017 research narrative. 

Professor McLeod is co-leader of the Faculty of Arts and Education Early Childhood Research Group. In 2020 she co-chaired the Early Childhood Voices 2020 conference that was attended by 2700 people from more than 70 countries. She is an active member on many university committees, provides many research presentations, and research mentorship to individuals across the university. Her Charles Sturt PhD students and postdocs have won many University, national, and international awards.

Sharynne is a co-leader of the Charles Sturt Scheme: Accelerating Interdisciplinary Educational Research (AIER), and of the International Children’s Communication Theme. The AIER Program supports Charles Sturt’s contribution to Sustainable Development Goals 4: Quality Education, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, and SDG10: Reducing Inequalities. 

My research foregrounds the right of everyone, particularly children, to participate fully in society.  

In 2019, she presented a speech about communication rights at the United Nations in New York. She has provided expertise into the children and youth version of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and the Rehabilitation Competency Framework for the World Health Organization.

Professor McLeod has collaborated with professionals across the Central West to develop the NSW Health website Waiting for Speech Pathology. 

 You can also visit her website Multilingual Children’s Speech website (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech), which has free resources in over 60 languages and is typically downloaded over 18,000 times per month.

https://csu.rewardgateway.com.au/SmartPress/Article/6397/20211207_2759219?ref=comms-email-subscribe

Here are some more awards from the School of Education

Congratulations to our SOE Faculty Research Award winners The Faculty Research Awards recognise our researchers with the highest Research Productivity Index (RPI) points for the 2018-2020 reporting period in a range of categories. It is wonderful to see that SOE researchers have been recognised across a number of categories: 

Top 5 Most Productive Female Researchers by 

• Overall Category A RPI Points (ALL FOAE) SOE represented the top 4 out of the 5 most productive female researchers across the Faculty! #1: Prof. Sharynne McLeod #2: A/Prof. Amy MacDonald #3: A/Prof. Lena Danaia #4: A/Prof. Christina Davidson 
• Top 5 Most Productive Male Researchers by Overall Category A RPI Points (ALL FOAE) #1: A/Prof. Brendon Hyndman #3: A/Prof. Alan Bain 
• Top 5 Most Productive Level B Researchers by Overall Category A RPI Points (ALL FOAE) #3: Dr Kiprono Langat #5: Dr Shukla Sikder 
• Most Productive Researcher by Category A RPI Publication Points (ALL FOAE) Prof. Sharynne McLeod 
• Most Productive Researcher by Category A RPI HERDC Income Points (ALL FOAE) A/Prof. Amy MacDonald 
• Most Productive ECR by Category A RPI Publication Points (ALL FOAE) Dr Susanne Francisco 
• Most Productive ECR by Category A RPI HERDC Income Points (ALL FOAE) Dr Shukla Sikder 
• Most Productive Researcher by Overall Category A RPI Points (SOE) Prof. Sharynne McLeod 
• Most Productive Level B Researcher by Overall Category A RPI Points (SOE) Dr Kiprono Langat 
• Most Productive ECR by Overall Category A RPI Points (SOE) Dr Susanne Francisco 

Congratulations to all our winners!

Farewell to Lisa McLean

 Lisa McLean is leaving CSU after 16 years. She has been such an important colleague at CSU over so many years. She has been an essential person on my PhD students' journeys (especially the flourish of your big stamp when they submitted their PhDs), a wonderful business manager for RIPPLE, and a superb colleague within the Faculty of Arts and Education. I will miss seeing her around CSU - and wish her all the best in your new and exciting role in Melbourne. Here are some blogposts featuring Lisa: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search?q=Lisa+McLean

Here is her farewell card from CSU: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/LNQUzSYC

https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/LNQUzSYC?rid=04d54f26#view

Keynote - 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Learning Instruction and Teacher Education - Hanoi National University of Education

This weekend, I am a keynote speaker and topic chair at the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Learning Instruction and Teacher Education (ILITE) Conference which is held on 11th and 12th December 2021 at Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam). 

The conference is co-organised by Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam) University of Cologne (Germany) University of Bayreuth (Germany) National Taiwan Normal University York University - UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability (Canada) 

The Conference brings together education professionals from over the world to share their knowledge and practices for working towards Education for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education by 2030. 

Here is my keynote presentation: 

The association between children’s communication skills and academic performance 

Abstract. Our communication ability impacts our identity, relationships, education, and employment. National prosperity, economy, health, wellbeing, and security requires successful communication. The foundations of speech, language and communication are established in early childhood. This is recognised in the Vietnamese Government’s Developmental Standards for 5-year-old children that includes the standard “to speak clearly”. Some children have speech, language and communication needs. The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) has studied 10,000 children since 2003. This presentation will describe the educational and social outcomes of children from the LSAC study. Australian children with speech, language and communication needs have significantly lower academic achievement in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and numeracy in grades 1, 3, and 5, slower progress in reading, writing, and overall school achievement at 8–9 years, poorer school outcomes with less positive trajectories at 12–13 years, and significantly lower academic achievement at 14–15 years. Additionally, Australian children with speech, language and communication needs have reported they experience significantly more bullying, have fewer friends, and do not enjoy attending school as much as their peers. This presentation will conclude with ways that educators in Vietnam and Australia can support children with speech, language and communication needs for sustainable education in the changing context. 

 I am also the chair of Session II. B. Early childhood and special education Room: 201

Chair: Prof. Sharynne McLeod (Charles Sturt University, Australia)

Discussant: Prof Shihkuan Hsu (National Taiwan University) 

1. Quality programs, quality teachers: Early childhood teacher programs in Australia Wendy Boyd (Southern Cross University, Australia) 

2. Support from home for early learning and development of children under five years old from ethnic minorities in Viet Nam Bui T. Lam, Pham T. Ben, Tran T. K. Lien, Nguyen T.M. Dung (HNUE, Vietnam) Ho Sy Hung (Hong Duc University, Vietnam) 

3. Tools to Measure Vietnamese Language and Reading in the Early School Years Giang T. Pham (San Diego State University, USA)

 

Charles Sturt University's highest performing tweet this year!

Today at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Town Hall with all staff across the university,  the Vice Chancellor had a segment where she announced recognitions and rewards. She indicated that the tweet about my ASHA Honours was CSU's "highest performing tweet this year"!

Scholarly journal publishing in Australia by Dr Hamid R. Jamali

Today I went to a really interesting presentation titled "Scholarly journal publishing in Australia" by Dr Hamid R. Jamali from Charles Sturt University. 

Abstract. Australia currently has 600+ peer-reviewed scholarly journals, some of which started a century ago. Most of these journals belong to or are affiliated with universities or non-profit organisations (e.g. learned societies). As journal publishing has increasingly become challenging due to a competitive market and various business models, some of these journals face uncertain futures. In the last decade alone 150+ Australian journals ceased publication. This presentation reports the findings of two recent studies on journal publishing in Australia and looks at the distribution of journals by owner, publisher, Field of Research, and publishing model. The presentation also reports the findings of a survey of discontinued journals on what circumstances resulted in the discontinuation of journals. The session will be an opportunity to discuss the value of having local/national journals and the role they play in research. 

Biography. Dr Hamid R. Jamali is an Associate Professor in the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University. He received his PhD in Information Science from University College London in 2008, and before joining CSU he worked as an Associate Professor at Kharazmi University in Iran. Hamid’s current research interests broadly cover the area of scholarly communication which includes reading, citing and publishing behaviour, journal publishing, open access, and research evaluation. He has been involved in multiple international projects including two recent projects on the scholarly communication of early career researchers.

It seems that my experience as Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, published by Speech Pathology Australia has been uncommon, with many Australian journals closing rather than internationalising while retaining their Australian influence and reach. I was the editor when we changed the name. Here is the publication history: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=iasl20 

• Currently known as: • International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2008 - current) 
• Formerly known as • Advances in Speech Language Pathology (1999 - 2007) • Australian Journal of Human Communication Disorders (1973 - 1996) • Journal of the Australian College of Speech Therapists (1951 - 1972)

Congratulations to the CSU Speech Pathology Team for winning the Vice Chancellor's CSU Successful Graduates Award

Congratulations to the CSU Speech Pathology Team for winning the Vice Chancellor's CSU Successful Graduates Award 

Charles Sturt University RED Award Successful Graduates: Recognises and celebrates individuals and teams that engage, inspire, motivate, and have made an outstanding and significant contribution to delivering excellence in service to students, alumni, staff, or the wider community. 

Speech Pathology Team, Faculty of Science and Health (Names: Sarah Verdon, Lisa Brown, Marijke Denton, Catherine Easton, Laura Hoffman, Suzanne Hopf, Alex Spiller, Linda Wilson) 

What the nomination was for: The Speech Pathology team are nominated for their development and implementation of the Master of Speech Pathology (MaSP) course. The MaSP is recognised as a world-leading blended online professional training course for speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The MaSP was the first Australian blended online speech pathology (SP) course to be awarded the maximum five-year course accreditation with Speech Pathology Australia, the national governing body for speech pathologists in Australia. Throughout this course the speech pathology team applies the Charles Sturt online learning model (2018) and an evidence-based constructivist approach to learning and teaching to deliver an innovative, high-quality student-centred university experience. Student and community feedback on the MaSP consistently identifies a rewarding and flexible student experience that prepares sought after work-ready graduates. 

Why is it Excellence Award worthy: A 2018 Speech Pathology team research project revealed over 92% of MaSP students chose the Charles Sturt course over other courses because it was offered online, with more than one third of participants stating they would not have attended university at all without this course. MaSP students see benefit in the constructivist pedagogy for their future practice, as indicated by the following student comment: "I've really learned to embrace the style of learning … because I can transfer it to so many other areas that I may not be directly taught about." (Student feedback forum, 20/05/2021). 

The national peak body of the profession, Speech Pathology Australia, acknowledged the strength of the Charles Sturt MaSP course stating: “the flexible and unique online learning offers prospective students an opportunity to commence a new profession. Students strongly advocated for the unique offering of the Masters ‘online’ program” (Speech Pathology Australia, accreditation feedback, 2020).

Happy International Day of Persons With Disability 2021

I was delighted to see the following illustrations lining the windows of a local business today...