Working with Cathie to publish her Masters thesis

Today Cathie Matthews and I met to begin the work to submit a journal article based on her Masters' thesis. Here is Cathie's thesis: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/supporting-2-year-olds-communication-collaborations-between-careg/ 

Higher Degree Research (HDR) students

Higher degree research students (HDR) are wonderful colleagues who bring their experiences and contexts to undertake quality impactful real-world research.

• Congratulations to Cathie Matthews who has completed all of the requirements to graduate with an MPhil this week!

What a joy it is to learn from and give ideas to PhD students. This week has been a wonderful time of discussion with the following PhD students:

• Sarah Bartlett (CSU PhD student supervised by myself and Dr Carolyn Gregoric)
• Anniek van Doornik (UUtrecht PhD student co-supervised by myself) 
• Arifa Rahman (CSU PhD student supervised by Dr Shukla Sikder) 
• Felicity Laurence (2026 PhD student supervised by myself and A/Prof Sarah Verdon)
• Nikki Simone (QUT PhD student visiting CVC and The Treehouse)
• Camilla Porsanger (Nord University PhD student visiting CVC and The Treehouse) 

Sarah B, Sharynne, Carolyn

 

Sharynne, Camilla and Tamara enjoying the Australian sunshine and blue sky

Arifa Rahman

Tamara, Nikki, Sharynne  and Camilla

Anniek and Sharynne looking at CSU PhD students' final chapters

Thesis revisions

I had a lovely meeting with Cathie Matthews today finalising her thesis revisions after examination. One famous examiner from USA recommended no changes! Her thesis is titled "Supporting 2-year-olds’ communication: Collaborations between caregivers, early childhood educators, and health professionals in rural Australia". Congratulations Cathie - nearly there!

Congratulations to Cathie Matthews - nearly finished

This morning Cathie Matthews and I discussed her examiners' feedback for her Masters of Philosophy. She is close to finalising her thesis for resubmission. Congratulations Cathie.

 

Congratulations Cathie Matthews

Congratulations Cathie Matthews who submitted her Masters of Philosophy thesis today. Her thesis is titled "Supporting 2-year-olds’ communication : Collaborations between caregivers, early childhood educators, and health professionals in rural Australia". What a huge achievement! Cathie's research was supervised by myself, Julian Grant and Libbey Murray.

Working with my postdoc, PhD and Masters students

My postdoc, PhD and Masters students are working hard. There are so many small steps to completing a higher degree - and it is an honour to walk alongside them.

Holly McAlister: PhD supervisors Dr Suzanne Hopf and Prof Sharynne McLeod

Cathie Matthews: Masters supervisors - Sharynne McLeod, Julian Grant, Libbey Murray

Kate Margetson: Postdoc supervisor: Sharynne McLeod

Research higher degree students are great

It's time I had another blog about my research higher degree students. I love working with them. This week: 

• Suzanne Hopf and I met with Holly McAlister to discuss her ethics variation, her paper being accepted at the ASHA convention, and her ongoing work. 
• I met with Sarah Bartlett to work on her PhD endorsement document and plans.
• Libbey Murray, Julian Grant and I sent back a draft of Cathie Matthews' thesis. Cathie is having another writing week - so we have worked on her updated literature review and results tables.
• I met with Kate Margetson to finalise her thesis being included in the CSU library, her synopsis for her graduation, and her postdoctoral plans.
•  We've also submitted a number of conference abstracts too.
  

Sarah B and Sharynne

Cathie and Sharynne

Holly, Sharynne and Suzanne

Cathie's endorsement of candidature

Today was Cathie Matthews' endorsement of candidature for her MPhil research titled: “Supporting 2-year-olds’ communication: Collaborations between rural health professionals and early childhood education services” 

• Chair - Dr James Deehan
• Supervisors – Professor Sharynne McLeod, Professor Julian Grant and Associate Professor Elizabeth Murray 
• Reviewers – Associate Professor Sarah Verdon and Dr Suzanne Hopf 

Thursday the 11th of April (12:00pm to 2:00pm)

Here is her abstract:

Early identification of communication delay is important to increase the likelihood of children communicating successfully now and, in the future, and to reduce the risk of poorer outcomes in literacy, academic success, social-emotional wellbeing, and employment. The current quantitative study sought to assess the feasibility of the Early Communication Measures (ECM) to identify communication risk in 48 2-year-old children by eight early childhood educators, eight child and family health nurses, and 48 caregivers. The Early Communication Measures comprised the Early Language Identification Measure-Shortened (ELIM-S) and the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS). The Early Communication Measures was found to be feasible and acceptable to monitor 2-year-old children’s communication development. Feasability (Bowen et al., 2009) and acceptability (Sekhon et al., 2017) frameworks were used to consider feasibility constructs such as demand, acceptability, expansion, and preliminary outcomes; and acceptability constructs such as affective attitude, burden, ethicality, intervention coherence, opportunity costs, perceived effectiveness, self-efficacy. Following the ECM almost half of the caregivers (43.5%) were recommended that their child should see a speech-language pathologist for further assessment and almost a third (30.4%) were referred to other local service and resources to support their child’s development. It promoted early and appropriate referrals for speech-language pathology assessments and provided more detail for staff compared to standard monitoring practices. This research supports interdisciplinary collaborative practices for early identification of young children’s communication development risk.

Congratulations Cathie! 

Preparing presentations for the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference

We are very excited to have a number of abstracts accepted for the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference to be held in Perth in May. This week I have begun working with my colleagues to prepare our presentations.

Sarah Faulks and Sharynne working on our SPA presentation

Early identification of communication delay by health and education professionals in rural Australia

Today Cathie Matthews and I had a productive day working on her Masters' thesis. We were working on a paper titled "Early identification of communication delay by health and education professionals in rural Australia". Her mixed methods study sought to assess the feasibility of the Early Communication Measures to identify communication risk in 48 2-year-old children by eight early childhood educators, eight child and family health nurses, and 48 caregivers.

While we were working we learned that her abstract was accepted for presentation at the upcoming Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Perth in May 2024. Congratulations Cathie.

Early identification of communication delay by health and education professionals in rural Australia

Over the past two days Cathie Matthews has been in Bathurst working with me on her Masters research. She has undertaken important research about early identification of communication delay by health and education professionals in rural Australia. I have really enjoyed working with her to write up her data collected from early childhood educators, child and family health nurses, caregivers and 2-year-old children.

Congratulations Cathie Matthews - submission of HETI Report

Congratulations to Cathie Matthews who submitted her HETI Report last week. Cathie has been enrolled in the Rural Research Capacity Building Program (RRCBP) https://www.heti.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/courses-and-programs/rural-research-capacity-building-program 

Her report was titled: Rural health professionals and early childhood education services working together to support 2-year-olds’ communication development in rural New South Wales. 

Here is the abstract: 

Children with speech and language difficulties are at risk for poorer outcomes in literacy, academic success, social-emotional wellbeing, and employment outcomes. Nearly 20% of children are regarded as late talkers. Early identification and intervention are important to increase the likelihood of children communicating successfully now and in the future. The Early Language Identification Measure-Shortened (ELIM-S) has recently been developed and validated in the United Kingdom to support the earlier identification of those at risk of communication delays. The current mixed methods study sought to assess the feasibility and acceptability of use of this early communication tool by caregivers, early childhood staff and speech pathologists with 2-year-old children attending early childhood education centres or child and family health nursing services in one rural city in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD). This feasibility study demonstrated that the Early Communication Measure successfully initiated dialogue around 2-year-old’s communication development between caregivers and staff working in early childhood settings in a rural metropolitan city in NSW. Early educators, child and family health nurses and caregivers found the Early Communication Measure to be feasible and acceptable to monitor 2-year-old children’s communication development. It was found to offer better outcomes and detail for staff compared to standard monitoring practices, with a positive outlook for its future use particularly by caregivers and educators. Furthermore, it promoted early and appropriate referrals for speech pathology assessments. This research will inform interdisciplinary collaborative practices across WNSWLHD for supporting young children’s early communication development. Furthermore, results from this pilot study may inform the development of a validation study of this communication tool in Australia.

Cathie's research also forms part of her Masters research at Charles Sturt University and is a pilot work for our collaboration with the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service.

During her research Cathie has been supported by the following institutions and people: 

• Charles Sturt University: Sharynne McLeod, Julian Grant, Libbey Murray
• The University of Sydney School of Rural Health: Georgina Luscombe
• NSW Health Education and Training Institute: Kerith Duncanson

Congratulations Cathie from your proud supervisors!

Graduation of the first Master of Speech and Language Therapy (MSALT) course in Vietnam

Today was the graduation of the first Master of Speech and Language Therapy (MSALT) students in Vietnam. I was honoured to work with Dr Ben Pham to co-supervise the research undertaken by two of these students: Hằng Nguyen and Vấn Phạm.

Here is the background about the 2-year course

The Master of SALT (MSALT course) is a component of the Project. UMP HCMC and MCNV collaborated to run this MSALT course with technical consultancy from TFA. The goal of cooperation was to train a group of 14 SALT Master trainers for future SALT education at four medical universities of HCMC, Da Nang, Hue, Hai Duong and the medical secondary school of Tay Ninh in Vietnam. The course ran for two years from November 2019 to November 2021. During the MSALT course, the 14 students did 14 research for their graduation. The students successfully defended their theses in November 2021 and were awarded with graduation degrees on 28th April 2022. 

Here is the background about the funding

For the period from 2017 to 2022, through the DISTINCT project by VietHealth, MCNV received a fund from USAID to run the “Development of Speech and Language Education in VietNam”. The Project aimed at establishing a solid foundation for development of an official education system of speech and language therapy (SALT) profession in Vietnam. The University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh city (UMP HCMC) and Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy (DUMTP) participated in this Project as implementing partners to MCNV. Trinh Foundation Australia (TFA) participated in this Project as a technical consultation partner to MCNV. 

Congratulations Hằng Nguyen, Vấn Phạm and your colleagues. What a wonderful day. We look forward to your impact on the speech and language therapy profession in Vietnam.

Congratulations to Professor Lindy McAllister whose >20 year vision for the profession of speech and language therapy in Vietnam has been realised through this graduation ceremony.

Teaching in the first Masters of Speech and Language Therapy course in Vietnam

This morning I received the following email thanking me and my 20 Australian colleagues for our contribution to teaching the first 14 Masters graduates of the Speech and Language Therapy course in Vietnam. The course was undertaken at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City (UMP HCMC), Vietnam. 

Dear international SALT lecturers, mentors, clinical supervisors, thesis research supervisors, 

I am Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy and I work as a Program Coordinator for my organization, MCNV, and in charge of the SALT Education Development Project in partnership with TFA since 2017. Under this project, the first Master of SALT course was implemented with 14 students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh city (UMP HCMC), Vietnam. The 14 MSALT students have finished their training program and will be awarded with degrees at the end of April 2022. To come to this point of achievement, your contribution in the forms of lecturing, mentoring, clinical supervision, thesis research supervision has been invaluable. 

To celebrate the completion of the first MSALT course and to congratulate the MSALT students on their graduation, MCNV and UMP HCMC will jointly organize a WORKSHOP on SHARING FINDINGS FROM SOME RESEARCH ON SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY IN VIETNAM. On behalf of MCNV, I would like to send this email to invite you to join the Workshop online. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, M.Phil Coordinator Disability Program- MCNV Vietnam A: E3 Trung Tu Diplomatic Compound 6 Dang Van Ngu Str, Ha Noi City T: (+84) 24 3835 9005/ ext 25 M: +84 (0) 986607351 W: mcnv.org FB: MCNV

Congratulations Jess on your Masters thesis submission

This week my daughter submitted her Masters thesis to Queensland University of Technology. I'm really proud of her. Soon our whole family will have a Masters degree!

 

A special gift

Dr Ben Pham and I received special gift this evening - an email and this photo:

"I have [attached] a photo when Prof. Sharynne talked after I defend[ed my thesis]. I want to send it to you as a souvenir so that you always remember there is a Vietnamese practitioner who is me."

Thank you to our masters' students - we are very proud of all you have learned and achieved over the past two years and wish you all the best for your future careers as you change the lives of people in Vietnam.

Congratulations to Phạm Thị Vấn and Nguyễn Thị Hằng

Congratulations to our two masters students who presented their theses today at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Their presentations and answers to reviewers' were excellent. I was very proud of them.

Phạm Thị Vấn's thesis was titled "Đặc điểm âm lời nói của trẻ có rối loạn âm lời nói ở miền Bắc Việt Nam"[Speech sound characteristics of children with speech sound disorders in Northern Viet Nam] Her three supervisors were 1. TS. Võ Nguyên Trung 2. TS. Phạm Thị Bền 3. GS. TS. Sharynne McLeod 

Nguyễn Thị Hằng's thesis was titled "TÍNH DỄ HIỂU LỜI NÓI CỦA TRẺ CÓ RỐI LOẠN ÂM LỜI NÓI Ở MIỀN BẮC VIỆT NAM" [SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY OF CHILDREN WITH SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS IN NORTHERN VIETNAM] Her three supervisors were 1. PGS. TS. Đỗ Văn Dũng 2. TS. Phạm Thị Bền 3. GS. TS. Sharynne McLeod.

Both students have published their literature reviews as journal articles in Vietnam and we plan to publish their results in English-language journals in the future. 

Thank you to Dr Ben Phạm who simultaneously translated the session from Vietnamese to English so that I could understand. She provided excellent information throughout the process went for over 4 hours during the session where three students presented.

Congratulations Hằng Nguyen and Vấn Phạm for submitting your Masters theses to Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University

Congratulations to Hằng Nguyen and Vấn Phạm who submitted their Masters’ theses yesterday to Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University, Viet Nam. I am so proud of them as they have worked very hard to undertake comprehensive research with 51 children with speech sound disorders in Vietnam, then write their thesis twice, once in Vietnamese and then in English! 

Vấn Phạm 

• Vietnamese thesis title: ĐẶC ĐIỂM ÂM LỜI NÓI CỦA TRẺ CÓ RỐI LOẠN ÂM LỜI NÓI Ở MIỀN BẮC VIỆT NAM 
• English title: SPEECH SOUND CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WITH SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS IN NORTHERN VIETNAM] 
• Supervisory team: Dr. Vo Nguyen Trung, Dr. Phạm Thi Ben, Pro. Dr. Sharynne McLeod 

Hằng Nguyen 

1. Vietnamese thesis title: TÍNH DỄ HIỂU LỜI NÓI CỦA TRẺ CÓ RỐI LOẠN ÂM LỜI NÓI Ở MIỀN BẮC VIỆT NAM 
2. English thesis title: SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY OF CHILDREN WITH SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS IN NORTHERN VIETNAM 
3. Supervisory team: Dr. Do Van Dung, Dr. Phạm Thi Ben, Pro. Dr. Sharynne McLeod 

Best wishes for your oral defense and your thesis examination. 

Congratulations also to Dr Ben Phạm who was their primary supervisor. It was an honour to be co-supervisor.

Here are some blogposts of their research journey: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search/label/masters. Our first briefing was in January 2020 and our first meeting with the students was on February 10, 2020.

Two new articles have been published today in Vietnam

Two new articles have been published today in Vietnam. These articles were written by our masters' students, supervised by Dr Ben Phạm and myself. Congratulations Hang and Van!

1. Nguyen Thi Hang, Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Do Van Dung (2021). Tổng quan mô tả về thang đo tính dễ hiểu theo ngữ cảnh [Scoping review of the Intelligibility in Context Scale]. Tạp chí Khoa học trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội: Khoa học Giáo dục [HNUE Journal of Science: Educational Sciences], 66(4AB), 68-81. doi: 10.18173/2354-1075.2021-0062.

2. Pham Thi Van, Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Vo Nguyen Trung (2021). Tổng quan các tiêu chuẩn chẩn đoán rối loạn âm lời nói ở trẻ em [Review of diagnostic criteria for speech sound disorders in children]. Tạp chí Khoa học trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội: Khoa học Giáo dục [HNUE Journal of Science: Educational Sciences], 66(4AB), 82-97. doi: 10.18173/2354-1075.2021-0063.

Congratulations!

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