Trinh Foundation

Since 2010 I have supported the Trinh Foundation and the development of speech and language therapy (SALT) in Vietnam in many small ways. Since this time so much has been achieved. Thanks for your certificate that arrived today.

Viet Nam now officially has the first 14 speech and language therapists with Masters' degrees (MSALTs)

Email received today from Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thủy celebrating a huge milestone in Vietnam

Dear Prof Lindy, Dr. Ben and all the Australian supervisors, 

As you know, the MSALT [Masters in Speech and Language Therapy] thesis defense on the 3rd and 5th Nov was fruitful and finished with good results that all the 14 MSALT students passed and will be awarded with MSALT degrees. On behalf of MCNV and UMP [University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City], I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for your intensive support for the past two years with the students' theses and for your attendance and support for the students in their defense sessions. Your attendance valued a lot to them and was meaningful to MCNV as a partner of TFA [Trinh Foundation Australia] in this ST [speech therapy] education project. VN now officially has the first 14 MSALTs. We hope that this group can contribute to the development of the ST profession in VN [Viet Nam]. 

With best regards, Thanh Thuy from MCNV https://mcnv.org/

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thủy

It has been an honour to play a small part over the past two years in this big milestone:  https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search/label/MSALTs

Masters students each have submitted a draft of their whole thesis - congratulations

I am very proud of Van and Hang who have recently submitted a draft of their whole thesis. It is such a pleasure to co-supervise these students with Dr Ben Pham from Ha Noi National University of Education.

Here is our first blogpost this year: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2020/02/supervising-masters-students-in-viet-nam.html

VietSpeech team supporting the Trinh Foundation and work in Vietnam

 The Trinh Foundation has just published it's April newsletter - and members of our VietSpeech team have been featured in two of the stories https://mailchi.mp/18a8adeb638c/benefits-of-volunteering-in-vietnam-7824345?e=bec50f8ff8

• Kate Margetson undertook a needs assessment regarding the use of AAC in Vietnam 

• Xuan Thi Thanh Le received a grant to work with myself and Dr Ben Pham to study 132 children from Southern Vietnam. Our subsequent journal article has just been published. More information here: https://trinhfoundation.org/journal-article-published-about-typically-developing-childrens-speech-acquisition-in-hcmc/ 
• Le, X. T. T., McLeod, S. & Phạm, B. (2021, in press). Consonant accuracy and intelligibility of Southern Vietnamese children. Speech, Language and Hearing. https://doi.org/10.1080/2050571X.2021.1888195

 

Consonant accuracy and intelligibility of Southern Vietnamese children

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication: 

Le, X. T. T., McLeod, S. & Phạm, B. (2021, in press). Consonant accuracy and intelligibility of Southern Vietnamese children. Speech, Language and Hearing. 

It will be published in this journal: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yslh20

Here is the abstract: 

Understanding typically developing children’s speech acquisition is useful to assist speech-language pathologists’ diagnosis and intervention planning for children with speech sound disorders. The aim of this research was to investigate Southern Vietnamese-speaking children’s speech accuracy and intelligibility. Participants were 132 children aged 3;0-5;11 living in Southern Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) whose consonants, semivowels, vowels, and tones were assessed using the Vietnamese Speech Assessment (VSA) and parent-reported intelligibility was assessed using the Vietnamese version of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS-VN). Participants’ percentage of consonants correct (PCC) was significantly lower for the younger children compared with the other age groups. Mean PCC was 89.19 (SD = 7.83) at 3;0-3;5 years and 99.31 (SD = 1.33) at 5;6-5;11 years. Percentage of semivowels correct was higher than the percentage of initial and final consonants correct. Participants produced tones and vowels accurately even from the youngest age group. On average, the participants were reported to be usually to always intelligible and were more intelligible with their parents than other communication partners. There was a positive, weak correlation between speech accuracy (PCC) and intelligibility (ICS-VN). There was no sex effect for PCC and no significant effect for age or sex on intelligibility. These data provide information about typical speech acquisition to support the emerging speech-language pathology profession in Vietnam. 

This work was supported by a grant from Trinh Foundation Australia to the first author, an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP180102848) to the second author, an Australian Awards Scholarship to the third author, Charles Sturt University, and Ninh Dang Vu who provided data entry support. 

We began working on this paper in 2017. 

https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2017/11/xuans-visit-re-southern-vietnamese.html

The work had to be put on hold in 2018 due to my health issues as well as a few other reasons - so it is really exciting to have it accepted for publication today.

 

Xuan Le, Ninh Dang Vu, Ben Pham and Sharynne McLeod in 2017

I have just learned that our paper was accepted on "Kitchen God Day" which is just before Tet: https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/how-vietnamese-people-celebrate-kitchen-god-day-across-the-regions-27895.html

 

Congratulations Mr Dien - soon to be Dr Dien

Congratulations to Mr Dien who submitted his PhD recently 

https://trinhfoundation.org/stories/unforgettable-day-for-mr-dien/

I first met Mr Dien in 2011 when he was class captain of the first speech therapy course in Vietnam and have followed his journey across the years. What a milestone for him, the speech therapy profession in Vietnam, and the Trinh Foundation.

Some of my other blogposts about Mr Dien are here: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search?q=Dien

Congratulations Trinh Foundation: 12 years old

Recently Trinh Foundation Australia (TFA) marked 12 years of supporting the development of the speech-language pathology (speech and language therapy) profession in Vietnam.

TFA's Mission
To improve the quality of life of Vietnamese people through collaborations and
To develop knowledge and skills in management of communication and speech disorders in Vietnam.

Their latest newsletter outlines many of their achievements: https://mailchi.mp/22b69149187d/benefits-of-volunteering-in-vietnam-4943873?e=bec50f8ff8

Our VietSpeech team has had a lot of involvement over the years, and some of our involvement has been highlighted in this newsletter
1. Dr Sarah Verdon is a Trinh Foundation Board Member

Regular TFA Board meetings are held virtually by Zoom, about 10 times each year, and once a year we meet face to face for our annual strategic planning day- this year on 7 March...

2. Kate Margetson has begun a new (extra) position with the Trinh Foundation

"TFA are pleased to announce the commencement of our newest project with our partners Humanity and Inclusion at the end of this month. This exciting project, supported by USAID, will be associated with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in Vietnam, and is planned for two phases. Phase one involves mapping followed by a Needs Assessment of current AAC across Vietnam. We are delighted that previous TFA volunteer Ms Kate Margetson has accepted a consultant role for this important and needed project. Kate, who will work remotely from Australia, has extensive experience in this area, having developed an iPad app when volunteering at the Kianh Foundation in Vietnam in 2015-16. She will be ably assisted in Vietnam by the current leader of the Vietnamese Speech Therapy network Dr Thao. (UPNT Graduate 2010-12). Following completion of phase one, recommendations will be made to Humanity and Inclusion regarding the development or application of an existing APP to suit the Vietnamese context as phase two of the project. This APP will meet the critical needs of a large cross section of the Vietnamese community who experience significant communication impairment."

3. Dr Sarah Verdon, Dr Ben Pham and Prof Sharynne McLeod currently are supervising Masters students' research in Vietnam

"And thanks also to the Australian academics and Dr Ben Pham in Hanoi who have used the unexpectedly available time as a result of the suspension of teaching in the Master degree to work intensively with the students on their thesis research proposals and ethics applications, while also still working in the new normal in Australia and Vietnam. "

4. Prof Sharynne McLeod's congratulations were published in the newsletter:

“Congratulations to Lindy McAllister and Sue Woodward for their vision and long-term commitment and all of the dedicated board members, students, staff, volunteers, lecturers, clinical educators, family members, donors and so many others who have worked hard towards the goal of the right to communicate for everyone in Vietnam.” Professor Sharynne McLeod - Charles Sturt University and volunteer lecturer

Masters thesis supervison in Vietnam

Yesterday Dr Ben Pham and I met with Prof Lindy McAllister and others in Australia to be briefed on supervision of two students' theses within the Masters of Speech Language Therapy (MSLT) at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. This is part of the ongoing work of the Trinh Foundation to support the development of lecturers in Vietnam.

VietSpeech presentations at IALP

Our VietSpeech team are presenting a number of different papers and posters during the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) conference. Here are some photos from our presentations.

IALP President (outgoing), Lily Cheng viewing our VietSpeech poster with Dr Sarah Verdon and Prof Sharynne McLeod

Dr Sarah Verdon presenting a paper on the Vietnamese Language Screener

• McLeod, S. (2019) Transcription of adults’ and children’s speech when you don’t speak their language 
• McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Wang, C., & Tran, V. H. (2019) Factors supporting language maintenance amongst the Vietnamese community in Australia 
• Pham, B. & McLeod, S. (2019) Assessing Vietnamese children's intelligibility and speech sounds 
• Pham, B. & McLeod, S. (2019) Transcription of tone. 
• Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2019). Maintaining children’s home languages to support communicative participation (poster) http://miceposter.com/poster/display_poster/710
• Verdon, S. et al. (2019). Development and validation of the Vietnamese Language Screener.

Dr Ben Pham presenting at IALP

Mr Dien and Dr Ben becoming members of IALP with Vanessa Borg

Focus on Vietnam at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference

This week at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference there were many papers and events about Vietnamese and Vietnam. In the program were a number of papers presented by Vietnamese and Australian authors, including a paper by Ben Phạm and myself titled "Vietnamese children’s speech acquisition: A normative cross-sectional study." The Trinh Foundation held a fundraising stall and dinner, and there were many other opportunities to discuss our VietSpeech research.

Ben Pham, Sarah Verdon, Chyrisse Heine, Sharynne McLeod, Dien Le

Lindy McAllister, Dien Le, Ben Pham, Van Tran, Sharynne McLeod

Trinh Foundation Dinner: Cathy Easton, Sarah Verdon, Sarah Masso, Helen Blake, Gwendalyn Webb, Ben Pham

Dr Van Tran, Gaenor Dixon (SPA President), Ben Pham, Gail Mulcair (SPA CEO)

Exciting developments for speech therapy in Vietnam

Over the past few days Professor Lindy McAllister has been visiting and sharing updates about the speech therapy profession in Vietnam and the involvement of the Trinh Foundation. Plans are underway to begin new masters and bachelors courses. This will bolster speech therapy and provide further recognition of this profession in Vietnam.
The Trinh Foundation Annual Report for 2017 is here, and includes mention of Ben Pham and myself.A summary from US Aid is here.

Sharynne, Prof Lindy McAllister, Ben Pham

Seeking a PhD student to join our VietSpeech project in 2018

Dr Sarah Verdon and I are looking for a PhD student to join our VietSpeech project in 2018. The project is funded by the Australian Research Council and the scholarship is sponsored by Charles Sturt University.
The link to the advertisement is here
The link to the CSU media release about our project is here
Links from this blog about our previous work about Vietnamese children's speech are here

We look forward to hearing from interested people and having someone wonderful to join our team.

Xuan's visit re Southern Vietnamese children's speech acquisition

This week Xuan Le (Lê Thị Thanh Xuân) is visiting Bathurst to work with Ben Pham and myself to analyse and write up speech acquisition data collected with children from Southern Vietnam. Xuan is a co-author of the Vietnamese Speech Assessment (VSA, Pham, Le, & McLeod, 2016) and we have been collecting data from the north and south of Viet Nam to finalise our examiner's manual for the VSA and write a supporting journal article. The data from the south were collected with support from a Trinh Foundation Australia grant. This is the fourth time Xuan has visited me in Bathurst.

Xuan Le, Ninh Dang Vu, Ben Pham and Sharynne working together in Bathurst

Celebrating Xuan's birthday in Bathurst

At the end of the week we submitted an article to be considered by an international journal

x

Vietnam was well represented at the Speech Pathology Australia conference

Vietnam was well represented at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference:

• Ben Pham presented a paper on validation of the Intelligibility in Context Scale: Vietnamese in Ha Noi
• Mr Dien Le presented a paper on the innovations by the new speech therapy graduates in Vietnam
• Marie Atherton presented two papers about her PhD research with the new speech therapy graduates and interpreters in Vietnam
• Sarah Verdon, a Director of the Trinh Foundation lead a successful fundraising program.

Trinh Foundation stall: Chrysse, Anna, Sarah

Mr Dien, Marie Atherton, Ben Pham

Trinh Foundation Australia's latest newsletter starts with Ben's teaching in HCMC

Ben Pham has featured in Trinh Foundation Australia's latest newsletter (here) for her work teaching the students at Pham Ngoc Thach University in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year. The newsletter also includes a story about Mr Dien's studies in Australia.

Trinh Foundation's Facebook post about Children's Speech

The Trinh Foundation (http://trinhfoundation.org/) have just posted the following Facebook message about Children's Speech

https://www.facebook.com/trinhfoundation/?fref=nf

Vietnamese consonants, vowels and tones

Ben Pham's latest journal article has been profiled on the Trinh Foundation Facebook page.
Phạm, B., & McLeod, S. (2016). Consonants, vowels and tones across Vietnamese dialects. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 18(2), 122-134. doi: 10.3109/17549507.2015.1101162

Visiting Ha Noi's speech therapist

Today I had the opportunity to visit Dr Oanh, one of only two speech therapists in Ha Noi (a city of over 7 million people!). Dr Oanh is a cleft palate surgeon who undertook the speech therapy course at Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University, run by the Trinh Foundation. I was her lecturer in 2013 and it was a pleasure to catch up with her in Ha Noi. She has just begun her PhD considering appropriate speech therapy assessment and intervention for Vietnamese children with cleft lip and palate.

Xuan Le, Dr Giang Pham, Sharynne, Dr Oanh, Ben Pham

Collaboration with the Trinh Foundation to support Vietnamese speech therapy

Professor Lindy McAllister is a Director of the Trinh Foundation and is working to develop the speech therapy profession in Vietnam. Lindy was instrumental in Ben Pham moving from Hanoi, Vietnam to CSU, Bathurst to study her PhD with me. On the weekend Lindy, Ben, and I were able to meet and talk about this fantastic partnership. Since beginning in July, Ben has worked very hard on her PhD. Already she has had a poster presentation accepted at a national conference in 2015 and is ready to submit her first English-language journal article to a journal.

Ninh Dang Vu, Ben Pham, Lindy McAllister, Sharynne McLeod