At the World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) in Auckland, New Zealand, Helen Blake and I coordinated a wonderful panel titled "Children’s speech development across the world"
consisting of 13 presentations (8 live and 5 online).
- Children’s speech development in 70+ languages and dialects Sharynne McLeod, Helen L. Blake, Australia
- Fiji English children’s speech development Holly McAlister, Australia; Suzanne Hopf, Paul A. Geraghty, Fiji; Sharynne McLeod, Australia
- Māori children’s speech development Elaine Ballard, Waimirirangi Andrews, New Zealand
- Samoan children’s speech development Elaine Ballard, Ina Toaetolu-Fautua, New Zealand
- Vietnamese + English children’s speech development Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Sarah Verdon, Van H. Tran, Australia; Ben Phạm, Vietnam
- Canadian French children’s speech development Susan Rvachew, Andrea MacLeod, Daniel Bérubé, Canada; Francoise Brosseau-Lapré, USA
- Hungarian children’s speech development Krisztina Zajdó, Hungary
- Peruvian Spanish children’s speech development Chelsea Sommer, USA; Evelyn Cáceres Nano, Peru; Tanya Flores, USA; and Delia Delgado Maldonado, Peru
- Kuwaiti Arabic children’s speech development Hadeel Ayyad, Shaima AlQattan, Kuwait; Barbara May Bernhardt, Canada
- Cantonese children’s speech development (recording) Carol Kit Sum To, Pamela Cheung, Hong Kong SAR China
- Danish children’s speech development (recording) Marit Carolin Clausen, Denmark
- Finnish children’s speech development (recording) Sari Kunnari, Tuula Savinainen-Makkonen, Katri Saaristo-Helin, Anna-Leena Martikainen, Finland
- Maltese children’s speech development (recording) Helen Grech, Malta
We announced our YouTube channel with recordings of the presentations. This will be systematically updated with an official launch in 2024: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcSAl_dA7arRMrE0qdxLuzGChY1LgY2
Thank you to the amazing
authors who presented their languages and research so concisely yet
comprehensively and the wonderful collegiality amongst nations.
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Maatua Rukingi provided a special Māori welcome and closing to our session
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A very special thank you to Maatua Rukingi who conducted the Māori opening and closing of the session facilitated by Waimirirangi Andrews and Elaine Ballard.
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| Ina Toaetolu-Fautua, Elaine Ballard, Maatua Rukingi, Waimirirangi Andrews, New Zealand |
The audience was invited to consider the following questions:
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What are the common threads you noticed?
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Are there any surprises (AHA! moments)?
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What are general trends across languages? How many languages follow
universal trends and what languages go against those trends?
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What will be your takeaway message for families?
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What will be your takeaway message (clinical implications) for SLPs/educators/other professionals?
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What theories does this speak to?
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| Packed room - with a very engaged audience |
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Daniel Bérubé - Canadian French
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Dr Chelsea Sommer - Peruvian Spanish
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Dr Krisztina Zajdó - Hungarian
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Kate Margetson - Vietnamese + English
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Holly McAlister - Fiji English
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Sharynne and Toby Macrea - NZ English
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