Speaking my languages: University of Iceland

July 27, 2023

Visiting Kate at The University of Iceland

Aðjúnkt Kathryn Crowe and A/Prof Þóra Másdóttir teach and research in the Talmeinafræði program at the University of Iceland
https://ugla.hi.is/kennsluskra/index.php?tab=nam&chapter=namsleid&id=820072_20176&kennsluar=2023

I enjoyed visiting to see exactly where they worked - and Icelandic research into speech development and their home language maintenance research with their multilingual children.

Working on a book chapter and a Memorandum of Understanding between our universities

McLeod and Crowe (2018) posters in Iceland

Icelandic speech development poster featuring Lubbi and based on Masdottir & McLeod (2021)

Kate with her CSU award

Kate's office

Kate and Thora are currently undertaking a large-scale randomised controlled trial in preschools across Iceland to support multilingual children's speech and language development.

The Nordic House - University of Iceland

The Nordic House is located at The University of Iceland. https://nordichouse.is/en/

It is a library of books and artwork from Nordic and Baltic countries. It has a vibrant children's section, hosts concerts and events, and was a wonderful place to visit to learn more about language and literature from:

Icelandic
Faroese
Sami
Greenlandic
Norwegian
Swedish
and other languages

Kate showed me how many resources were found in multiple languages and I had lots of ideas to bring back to the International Children's Communication Centre at CSU.

Icelandic learning, collaborating and planning the future

Over the past few days A/Prof Thora Masdottir, A/Prof Kate Crowe, Marie Ireland and I have travelled around Iceland learning about the country, customs, children, education, speech pathology and so much more. Many conversations compared similarities and differences between Iceland (and other Nordic countries), the United States and Australia. It has been a wonderful time of collegiality and planning future endeavours.