Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for Dr Sarah Masso

CONGRATULATIONS Dr Sarah Masso who has just learned she has received a prestigious Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) titled "Polysyllables and Emerging Early Literacy" worth $424,999. The success rate was 16%. The Australian Research Council announcement is here: https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/a3f6be6e-33f7-4fb5-98a6-7526aaa184cf/206

Summary: The aims of this research are to determine trajectories of polysyllabic word development in children with and without typical speech sound development, and examine the relationship between polysyllabic word accuracy and early literacy development. This research is significant as it will utilise innovative speech analysis techniques to identify the skills of children during a critical period of development, their transition to school. The expected outcomes of this research include: (1) to establish new methods to identify children who are at risk of finding it hard to learn to read, and (2) creating the first longitudinal corpus of polysyllabic words from Australian English-speaking children with and without speech sound disorder.

We are so proud of you Sarah!

Dr Sarah Masso, Dr Kate Crowe, and Sharynne at the ASHA convention

ASHA selects our tutorial for inclusion in a self-study package

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is developing a self-study product about assessment considerations for speech sound disorders and our article, “Tutorial: Assessment and Analysis of Polysyllables in Young Children,” has been selected for inclusion.

First publications for 2018

At the end of 2017 my colleagues and I had 8 papers that had been accepted but were still in press (some had been accepted in 2016). It is great to see two of these are now published with 2018 publication dates:

1. Hopf, S. C., McLeod, S. & McDonagh, S. H. (2018). Linguistic multi-competence of Fiji school students and their conversational partners. International Journal of Multilingualism, 15(1), 72-91. doi:10.1080/14790718.2016.1241256
   Free access: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/dF57kmKWGJWdv8qpW9WB/full
2. Masso, S., McLeod, S. & Baker, E. (2018). Tutorial: Assessment and analysis of polysyllables in young children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49, 42-58. doi:10.1044/2017_LSHSS-16-0047
   http://lshss.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2668005

These papers were written with Dr Suzanne Hopf and Dr Sarah Masso as part of their PhD theses.

Impact: Speech sound disorders in preschool and school-age children

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) have just launched a journal self-study course for their members titled "Speech Sound Disorders in Preschool and School-Age Children (WEB3250)". It contains learning based around four journal articles, and two of the four were written by our team, with a third being written by our colleagues Yvonne Wren and Sue Roulstone from the UK. It is very exciting to have had our work selected by ASHA and will increase the impact of our work across the US and the world. The selected papers in the self-study course are:

1. Stimulus Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production - Toby Macrae 
2. Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Intervention Delivered by Educators for Children With Speech Sound Disorders - Sharynne McLeod, Elise Baker, Jane McCormack, Yvonne Wren, Sue Roulstone, Kathryn Crowe, Sarah Masso, Paul White, and Charlotte Howland 
3. Polysyllable Speech Accuracy and Predictors of Later Literacy Development in Preschool Children With Speech Sound Disorders - Sarah Masso, Elise Baker, Sharynne McLeod, and Cen Wang 
4. Prevalence and Predictors of Persistent Speech Sound Disorder at Eight Years Old: Findings From a Population Cohort Study - Yvonne Wren, Laura L. Miller, Tim J. Peters, Alan Emond, and Sue Roulstone 

Here is the summary of the course from the ASHA website:

Children with speech sound disorders make up a large part of the caseload for many SLPs who work with preschool and school-age children. Speech sound disorders not only affect a child’s ability to communicate at a young age but also may lead to later speech and literacy difficulties. This journal self-study explores issues related to managing speech sound disorders, including assessment and treatment options. It also includes articles that identify predictors of future speech and literacy problems. Clinicians can use this information to help identify appropriate assessment tools and potential treatment options, as well as counsel parents and teachers of children who may be at risk for continuing speech and academic difficulties.

Tutorial: Assessment and analysis of polysyllables in young children

The following manuscript has just been accepted for publication. This is the last paper to be published from Sarah Masso's PhD. Congratulations Sarah!

Masso, S., McLeod, S. & Baker, E. (2017, in press). Tutorial: Assessment and analysis of polysyllables in young children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.
Here is the abstract:

Purpose: Polysyllables, words of three or more syllables, represent almost 30% of words used in American English. The purpose of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists’ assessment and analysis of polysyllables extending the focus of published assessment tools that focus on sampling and analysing children’s segmental accuracy and/or the presence of phonological patterns.
Method: This tutorial will guide SLPs through a review of 53 research papers that have explored the use of polysyllables in assessment, including the sampling and analysis procedures used in different research studies. The tutorial will also introduce two new tools to analyse and interpret polysyllable speech samples: the Word-level Analysis of Polysyllables (WAP, Masso, 2016a) and the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity (Framework, Masso, 2016b).
Results: Connected speech and single-word sampling tasks were used across the 53 studies to elicit polysyllables and a number of analysis methods were reported including measures of segmental accuracy and measures of structural and suprasegmental accuracy. The WAP and the Framework extend SLPs’ depth of analysis of polysyllables.
Conclusion: SLPs need a range of clinical tools to support the assessment and analysis of polysyllables. A case study comparing different speech analysis methods demonstrates the clinical value in utilizing the WAP and the Framework to interpret children’s polysyllable productions in addition to traditional methods of speech sampling and analysis.

Longitudinal changes in polysyllable maturity of preschool children with phonologically-based speech sound disorders

The following article has just been published based on work from Sarah Masso's PhD.

Masso, S., McLeod, S., Wang, A. & Baker, E., & McCormack, J. (2017). Longitudinal changes in polysyllable maturity of preschool children with speech sound disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 31(6), 424-439. doi:10.1080/02699206.2017.1305450

Here is the link to a free download: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/hnFtnIR6iTvXn4IQNAV5/full

Longitudinal changes in polysyllable maturity of preschool children with speech sound disorders

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication. It formed part of Sarah's PhD and was based on work from our Sound Start Study.
Masso, S., McLeod, S., Wang, A. & Baker, E., & McCormack, J. (2017, in press). Longitudinal changes in polysyllable maturity of preschool children with speech sound disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics.
Here is the abstract:

Children’s polysyllables (words of three or more syllables) were investigated to determine changes in (1) consonant and vowel accuracy, (2) error category frequency, and (3) levels of maturity over time. Participants were 80 children (aged 4;0-5;4) with phonologically-based speech sound disorders who participated in the Sound Start Study and completed the Polysyllable Preschool Test (Baker, 2013) three times. Polysyllable errors were categorised using the Word-level Analysis of Polysyllables (WAP, Masso, 2016a) and the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity (Framework, Masso, 2016b), which represents five maturity levels (Levels A-E). Participants demonstrated a statistically significant increase in polysyllable accuracy across three time points as measured by consonant and vowel accuracy, and frequency of polysyllable errors. Children who demonstrated the lowest level of maturity (Level A) had frequent deletion errors, alterations of phonotactics, and alterations of timing. Participants in Level B were 8.62 times more likely to improve than children in Level A at Time 1. Children who present with frequent deletion errors may be less likely to improve their polysyllable accuracy.

Polysyllable speech accuracy and predictors of later literacy development in preschool children with speech sound disorders

The following journal article has been accepted for publication. It forms part of Sarah Masso’s PhD and uses data from the Sound Start Study.
Masso, S., Baker, E., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2017, in press). Polysyllable speech accuracy and predictors of later literacy development in preschool children with speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
Here is the abstract:

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine if polysyllable accuracy in preschoolers with speech sound disorders (SSD) was related to known predictors of later literacy development; phonological processing, receptive vocabulary, and print knowledge. Polysyllables--words of three or more syllables--are important to consider as unlike monosyllables, polysyllables have been associated with phonological processing and literacy difficulties in school-age children. They therefore have the potential to help identify preschoolers most at risk of future literacy difficulties. Method: Participants were 93 preschool children with SSD from the Sound Start Study. Participants completed the Polysyllable Preschool Test (Baker, 2013) as well as phonological processing, receptive vocabulary, and print knowledge tasks. Results: Cluster analysis was completed and two clusters were identified: low polysyllable accuracy and moderate polysyllable accuracy. The clusters were significantly different based on two measures of phonological awareness and measures of receptive vocabulary, rapid naming, and digit span. The clusters were not significantly different on sound matching accuracy, letter/sound or print concept knowledge. Conclusions: The participants’ poor performance on print knowledge tasks suggested that as a group, they were at risk of literacy difficulties but that there was a cluster of participants at greater risk—those with both low polysyllable accuracy and poor phonological processing.

Sarah submitted her PhD today

Today Sarah Masso submitted her PhD titled: Polysyllable Maturity of Preschool Children with Speech Sound Disorders. It was submitted as a series of publications (1 book chapter and 5 journal articles). Sarah's research was based on data collected from 93 children within the Sound Start Study. Within her PhD she invented the Word-level Analysis of Polysyllables (WAP, Masso, 2016a) and the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity (Masso, 2016b). Her co-supervisors were Elise Baker, Jane McCormack (and unofficially Yvonne Wren, Sue Roulstone, and Kate Crowe). Congratulations Sarah on this HUGE milestone in your life.

Lisa McLean (research office), Sarah Masso with her thesis, and Sharynne

Lisa McLean, Ben Pham, Sarah Masso, Audrey Wang and Sharynne

Polysyllable productions in preschool children with speech sound disorders

The following article has been accepted for publication. It is a part of Sarah Masso's PhD:

Masso, S., McLeod, S., Baker, E., & McCormack, J. (2016, in press March). Polysyllable productions in preschool children with speech sound disorders: Error categories and the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Here is the abstract

Purpose: Children with speech sound disorders (SSD) find polysyllables difficult; however, routine methods of sampling and measuring speech accuracy are insufficient to describe polysyllable accuracy and maturity. This study had two aims: (1) to compare two speech production tasks and, (2) to describe polysyllable errors within the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity. Method: Ninety-three preschool children with SSD from the Sound Start Study (4;0-5;5 years) completed the Polysyllable Preschool Test (POP; Baker, 2013) and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP-Phonology; Dodd et al., 2002). Result: Consonant accuracy was similar, but vowel accuracy was significantly different between the POP and the DEAP-Phonology. Production errors were analysed according to the seven error categories of the Word-level Analysis of Polysyllables (WAP): (1) substitution of consonants or vowels (97.8% of children demonstrated common use), (2) deletion of syllables, consonants or vowels (65.6%), (3) distortion of consonants or vowels (0.0%), (4) addition of consonants or vowels (0.0%), (5) alteration of phonotactics (77.4%), (6) alteration of timing (63.4%),  and (7) alteration of sequence (0.0%). The Framework of Polysyllable Maturity described five levels of maturity based on children’s errors. Conclusions: Polysyllable productions of preschool children with SSD can be analysed and categorised using the WAP, and interpreted using the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity.

Sarah's SPSS PhD visit

This week Sarah Masso was in Bathurst to work with Audrey Wang and myself on her next PhD paper. Sarah currently is exploring change in preschoolers' polysyllable maturity over 3 time points. Audrey worked with Sarah on her data using SPSS, and together they imputed data and statistically described change over time. During the visit Sarah also supported Ben's data entry and analysis, and we celebrated Sarah's PhD birthday. It was a very productive week.

Sarah and Audrey

Sharynne, Sarah, and Ben

Presentations at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in Denver, CO

This year I am not attending the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in Denver, CO and it is the first year for many years I am not going. I was the topic co-chair for the Cultural and Linguistic Considerations Across the Discipline Committee so I have a good idea of a number of excellent sessions that will be presented over the next few days. I am involved in  two oral presentations and one poster presentation:

• Assessment and Analysis of Polysyllables in Children With Speech Sound Disorders: Sarah Masso, Sharynne McLeod, Elise Baker, Jane McCormack Polysyllables may unlock the relationship between speech, language, literacy and phonological processing. Ninety-three preschool children with speech sound disorders were assessed using the Polysyllable Preschool Test. Seven categories of polysyllable error were identified: (1) substitutions, (2) deletions, (3) distortions, (4)additions, (5) alterations in timing, (6)alterations in phonotactics, (7)alterations in sequence.

• Validation of the Intelligibility in Context Scale as a Subjective Measure for Jamaican Creole- Speaking Preschoolers: Megan McDonald, KarlaWashington, Sharynne McLeod, Kathryn Crowe, and Hubert Devonish Ninety-eight children aged 3-to-6-years, who use Jamaican Creole and Standard Jamaican English, participated in a study to establish the validity and reliability of the Intelligibility in Context Scale-Jamaican Creole (ICS-JC). The ICS-JC demonstrated good psychometric properties for construct and criterion validity and reliability (internal consistency, test-retest, inter-rater).

• Cultural and Diagnostic Appropriateness of Standardized Language Assessments for Bilingual-Speakers: Considering Jamaican Creole- Speaking Preschoolers: Lauren Mikhail, Maggie Gilmore, Karla Washington, Sharynne McLeod, Hubert Devonish, Maureen Samms-Vaughan

Data analysis is going well

Two of my PhD students, Sarah Masso and Sarah Verdon, are deep into data analysis at the moment.

• Sarah Masso has had a productive few weeks analysing data from the Polysyllable Preschool Test (Baker, 2013). She is undertaking a quantitative analysis of the number of consonants, vowels, and syllables that are correct, as well as undertaking an analysis of the types of errors that the children are making when they say words such as butterfly, kangaroo, animals, Vegemite, hippopotamus, and vegetables.
• Sarah Verdon has also had a productive few weeks analysing data from her fieldwork that involved visiting14 sites across five continents. She is undertaking a qualitative analysis using Cultural Historical Activity Theory using categories such as instruments, rules, community, division of labour, and outcomes.

Although there are vast differences between their data analysis techniques, both Sarahs are focused on making a difference in the lives of children with speech difficulties. It is a pleasure to work with them and their co-supervisors (Dr Sandie Wong, Dr Elise Baker, and Dr Jane McCormack).