Hong Kong hospitality

Thank you to Prof Thomas Law and the faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for your fantastic hospitality showcasing Cantonese cuisine at its best. We were even treated to the harbour light show during dinner!

Dr Kate Margetson, Prof Sharynne McLeod, Prof Thomas Law in Kowloon

Peking duck with the faculty at CUHK

Chinese University of Hong Kong Staff Club

Yum cha lunch at the staff club!

Visiting colleagues at The University of Hong Kong

I had a wonderful day today re-connecting with my long-term colleague Prof Carol Kit Sum To in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong. Carol and I first began collaborating around 2010 - and since then have had grants and published a number of papers together and have further collaborations planned:

1. To, C. K. S., Cheung, P. S. P., & McLeod, S. (2013a). A population study of children's acquisition of Hong Kong Cantonese consonants, vowels, and tones. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0080)
2. To, C. K. S., Cheung, P. S. P., & McLeod, S. (2013b). The impact of extrinsic demographic factors on Cantonese speech acquisition. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 27(5), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2013.763385
3. To, C. K. S., McLeod, S., & Cheung, P. S. P. (2015). Phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese: Diachronic review, synchronic study and implications for speech sound assessment. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 29(5), 333–353. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2014.1003329
4. To, C. K. S., McLeod, S., Sam, K. L., & Law, T. (2022). Predicting which children will normalize without intervention for speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(5), 1724-1741. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00444 
5. To, C. K. S., Cheung, P. S. P., & McLeod, S. (2025). English + Cantonese speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press. 
   

Prof Carol To at her speech lab

Sharynne and Carol at HKU

Carol is an Adjunct Research Professor at Charles Sturt University. 

I also met Dr Saira Ambreen, who completed her PhD with Carol in 2023 - and now is a postdoc at HKU. Saira's research has described children's acquisition of Urdu - and I have cited her work a number of times already. Saira and Carol have written a chapter on Urdu speech development in The Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World. It was inspiring to spend the day with Carol and Saira. Thank you for your hospitality.

Sharynne, Carol and Dr Saira Ambreen

Visiting Beijing Language and Culture University

On Friday Dr Ao Chen invited me to visit the speech-language pathology clinic at Beijing Language and Culture University.  Dr Chen obtained her PhD from Utrecht University (where Anniek van Doornik studies), and undertook a postdoc in infants' tone perception at Western Sydney University.

Walking with Dr Chen along the avenue of autumn trees

Beijing Language and Culture University has a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology and a Bachelors of Speech and Hearing. Prof Liqun Gao organised the Belt and Road summit, the lecturers presented and attended, and the students were volunteers (including Megan Li and Xiao Yao). I enjoyed visiting the university, seeing the clinic and having a long discussion about speech acquisition,  assessment, and intervention. We followed the visit with traditional Beijing hotpot.

Sharynne and Dr Ao Chen

Dr Chen and I met with the speech-language pathologist and students in the university speech clinic

Enjoying traditional Beijing hotpot

Ancient and modern

While in China, we had the opportunity to visit some significant sites, including the Great Wall, Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), and the 2008 Olympic site.

David, Sharynne and Ben on the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall extends for 8,000kms!

Sharynne and Ben at the Hall of Literary Elegance in the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace)

David, Sharynne and Ben near the Olympic Park

Ben and Sharynne at the Olympic Park

“One Belt, One Road” Speech and Language Rehabilitation Summit, Beijing, China

This week I was invited to represent Australia to speak at the “One Belt, One Road” Speech and Language Rehabilitation Summit Forum at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. My invited presentations were titled:

• Speech Sound Disorders in Children 
• Speech Pathology Education in Australia 

Prof GAO Liqun (China - Organizer), Prof Sumalai Maroonroge (Thailand/US), Philippa Friary (NZ), Prof Lilly Cheng (US), Prof Sharynne McLeod (Australia), Prof Kartini Ahmad (Malaysia), Dr Ben Pham (Vietnam)

Prof Pao-Chuan Torng (Taiwan) and Prof Sharynne McLeod

 Dr Ben Pham represented Vietnam and presented an invited paper on the development of the speech and language therapy (SALT) profession in Vietnam.

Dr Ben Pham presenting her invited paper

Congratulating Ben after her presentation: Prof Sumalai Maroonroge (Thailand/US), Dr Lemmietta McNeilly (ASHA, US), Prof Kartini Ahmad (Malaysia), Dr Ben Pham (Vietnam), Christine Medina-Chin (Philippines), Prof Lilly Cheng (US), Mae Catherine Sadicon and Elinor Cunanan-Bautista (Philippines)

Prof Sharynne McLeod presenting the McLeod and Crowe (2018) research about children's speech acquisition

Chatting with Dr Ao Chen from Beijing Language and Culture University

Visiting the Confucius Institute at SDSU

Today Ben Pham and I visited Professor Lilly Cheng at the newly opened building for the Confucius Institute at San Diego State University (SDSU). We were honoured to participate in the tea ceremony and to have a tai chi display and concert. Lilly welcomed us into her new office, taught us Chinese calligraphy and showed us many very special Chinese artifacts.
We visited because Professor Cheng is the President of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (and I am Deputy Chair of the Child Speech Committee).

Professor Lilly Cheng in her office

Ben learning calligraphy

Participating in the tea ceremony