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.

Vietnamese collaborations

This weekend Ben Phạm and I had a visit from two researchers from the University of Newcastle:

• Dr Sally Hewat, who is a senior lecturer in speech pathology and a director of Trinh Foundation Australia
• Le Khanh Dien, who recently left Vietnam to undertake his masters by research with Dr Hewat. Mr Dien was the president of my speech sound disorders speech therapy class in Ho Chi Minh City in 2011, and visited Bathurst in 2012. 

Additionally, Ben Pham has just returned from teaching the 2016/7 speech sound disorders class in Ho Chi Minh City.
It was a pleasure to meet together and to share ideas and insights about our research. We look forward to future visits from Sally and Dien.

Dr Sally Hewat, Ben Phạm, Le Khanh Dien, and Sharynne

Preschool children’s communication, motor and social development: What concerns parents and educators?

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication and is based on work from our Sound Start Study.
McLeod, S., Crowe, K., McCormack, J., White, P., Wren, Y., Baker, E., Masso, S., Roulstone, S. (2017, in press). Preschool children’s communication, motor and social development: What concerns parents and educators? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Here is the abstract:

Purpose: During early childhood it is important to identify which children require intervention before they face the increased demands of school. This study aimed to: (1) compare parents’ and educators’ concerns, (2) examine inter-rater reliability between parents’ and educators’ concerns, and (3) determine the group difference between level of concern and children’s performance on clinical testing.
Method: Parents and educators of 1,205 4- to 5-year-old children in the Sound Start Study completed the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status. Children whose parents/educators were concerned about speech and language underwent direct assessment measuring speech accuracy (n = 275), receptive vocabulary (n=131), and language (n=274).
Result: More parents/educators were concerned about children’s speech and expressive language, than behaviour, social-emotional, school readiness, receptive language, self-help, fine motor, and gross motor skills. Parents’ and educators’ responses were significantly correlated (except gross motor)Parents’ and educators’ level of concern about expressive speech and language was significantly correlated with speech accuracy on direct assessment. Educators’ level of concern was significantly correlated with a screening measure of language. Scores on a test of receptive vocabulary significantly differed between those with concern and those without.
Conclusion: Children’s communication skills concerned more parents and educators than other aspects of development and these concerns generally aligned with clinical testing.

Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication:
Phạm, B, McLeod, S. & Harrison, L. J. (2017, in press). Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics.
It forms part of Ben Phạm’s PhD and provides international evidence validating the use of the Intelligibility in Context Scale.
Here is the abstract:

Vietnamese is one of the 20 most commonly spoken languages in the world; however, there are no standardised tools to assess Vietnamese children’s speech. This study aimed to validate and norm the Vietnamese version of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS-VN). Data were collected from parents of 181 children (aged 2;0-5;11) living in Ha Noi, Northern Viet Nam. The mean ICS-VN score was 4.43 (out of a maximum of 5) indicating that children were “usually” to “always” intelligible; however, item-level scores demonstrated significant differences between communication partners. Children with parental concerns about speech and language had significantly lower mean scores than children without parental concerns. Scores also differed by children’s age, parents’ skill level, and mothers’ education level but not by sex of child or fathers’ education level. The ICS-VN had good psychometric properties indicating it to be a valid tool for use with Vietnamese-speaking children in Northern Viet Nam.

Meetings with important women in Albury

While in Albury I have had the opportunity to meet with three important women who are my colleagues and either ex- or current students/postdocs:

• Adjunct A/Prof Jane McCormack
• Dr Sarah Verdon
• Nicole McGill (nee Limbrick)

I have been working with them on writing grants and papers. It is always a pleasure to meet face-to-face and catch up on important life and work-related issues.

Nicole McGill and Sharynne

Sharynne and Jane McCormack

Resources to encourage Australian parents to use their home language with their preschoolers

I just learned about these two great resources to encourage Australian parents to use their home language with their preschoolers created within NSW Health
• 'Helping my child learn two languages' flyer http://www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/publicationsandresources/pdf/publication-pdfs/ahs-9715/ahs-9715-eng.pdf/view
• ‘Helping your child learn two languages’ video www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIrD7PkeDdg

Invitations to speak at ASHA in Los Angeles in November

Members of our Charles Sturt University Speech and Language team have been invited to present invited sessions at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in November this year:

• Pham, Pham & McLeod - Vietnamese children’s speech and language: Latest clinical research 
• Crowe & Guiberson - Working with culturally and linguistically diverse children with hearing loss
• Washington & McLeod - Global tools and resources for pediatric SLP: Supporting children around the world

Teaching the SPH201 students in Albury about children with speech sound disorders

Today I begged Dr Sarah Verdon to let me teach her SPH201: Speech sound disorders class at Charles Sturt University in Albury. The class is using our Children's Speech textbook, so this was the first time I was able to actually use the material from the textbook with an undergraduate class. The students were enthusiastic and I am looking forward to hearing from Sarah about their learning throughout the semester and their application of the material to children with speech sound disorders in their professional practice. The students also promised to send feedback on the book* (something that Elise and I are very happy to receive from anyone!).

Some of the Charles Sturt University SPH201 students
with Dr Sarah Verdon and Professor Sharynne McLeod
(Photo credit: Allan)

*We did find one error in the Powerpoint slides that accompany the book (a risk/protective factor is "having an older sibling" not "being an older sibiling"

Academic Senate in Albury

I attended Charles Sturt University's Academic Senate today. I am an elected representative of the Professorial Forum. Today also was international women's day, and the contribution of women at CSU was acknowledged. In fact, CSU is leading the sector in terms of the number of women in management roles. CSU has 64% of female governors (9/14) (p. 26 of WomenCount: Australian Universities 2016).

Cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of computer-assisted intervention delivered by educators for children with speech sound disorders

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication. It is the main outcomes paper from the Sound Start Study.
McLeod, S., Baker, E., McCormack, J., Wren, Y., Roulstone, S. Crowe, K., Masso, S., White, P., & Howland, C. (2017, in press). Cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of computer-assisted intervention delivered by educators for children with speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

We received extremely positive feedback from the editors and reviewers. For example, the associate editor wrote “The reviewers and I enthusiastically await the publication of this important article on delivering services to children with speech sound disorders.”

Here is the abstract:

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of computer-assisted input-based intervention for children with speech sound disorders (SSD).
Method: The Sound Start Study was a cluster randomized controlled trial. Seventy-nine early childhood centers were invited to participate, 45 were recruited, and 1,205 4- to 5-year-old children’s parents/educators returned questionnaires. Children whose parents/educators had concerns about speech were assessed (n=275); 132 children who were identified with phonological impairment of unknown origin underwent additional assessment. Children with SSD and no receptive language or hearing difficulties, typical non-verbal intelligence, and English as their primary language were eligible; 123 were randomized (Intervention n=65; Control n=58); 3 withdrew. Intervention involved Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter software administered by educators over 9 weeks; Control involved typical classroom practices. Participants were re-assessed twice by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) blinded to the initial assessment and intervention conditions.
Results: For the primary outcome variable (percentage of consonants correct), the significant mean change from pre- to post-intervention for the Intervention group (mean change+6.15, p<.001) was comparable in magnitude to the significant change for the Control group (mean change+5.43, p<.001) with a small between groups effect size for change (Cohen’s d=0.08). Similar results occurred for measures of emergent literacy, phonological processing, participation, and wellbeing.
Conclusion: Computer-assisted input-based intervention administered by educators did not result in greater improvement than typical classroom practices.

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.

Analysing data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children in Canberra

This week Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang and I have been in Canberra visiting the Department of Social Services (DSS). We have been working with Fiona Skelton and Ana Sartbayeva who have been assisting us with the analysis of the Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children database. Speech Pathology Australia have commissioned this research. We really appreciated the insights from Fiona and Ana to ensure our analysis and interpretation of the data is the best it can be in order to respect the children and families who have contributed these data.

Sharynne, Fiona, Ana, Linda and Audrey at DSS, Canberra

Understanding children’s communication and educational needs using Australia’s longitudinal datasets

Today Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang and I presented an invited seminar at the Department of Social Services (DSS) in Canberra. The presentation was titled "Understanding children’s communication and educational needs using Australia’s longitudinal datasets". The audience included people from the National Centre for Longitudinal Data (DSS) and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The audience asked many questions and some asked for additional information following the presentation. It is great to see that our work is of relevance to members of the government who are responsible for developing policy.

Here is the abstract:

The Australian Government has funded research to create longitudinal datasets that provide valuable insights into children’s communication and educational needs:

• Growing up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) 
• Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSIC) 

Researchers from Charles Sturt University have analysed these datasets, learning many valuable insights that have informed policy and practice. Insights to be profiled during the seminar, include:

• Indigenous Australian children spoke between one and eight languages including: English, Indigenous languages, creoles, foreign languages, and sign languages. Children who spoke an Indigenous language were more likely to live in moderate to extreme isolation. 
• Multilingualism did not contribute to poorer educational and social-emotional outcomes at school. 
• The main predictor of academic difficulties at school was concern about 4- to 5-year-old children’s speech and language (regardless of monolingual or multilingual status). 
• Children with speech and language problems in early childhood achieved significantly lower scores on every NAPLAN test (reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy) at years 3, 5 and 7 compared to students without these problems. 
• Most children with speech and language problems had not seen a speech pathologist. 

The profiled research has been funded by Australian Research Council Discovery and Future Fellowship grants and Speech Pathology Australia. Insights from Australian Government’s longitudinal datasets have been profiled in the national media, published in high profile international academic journals, and used to inform government submissions including:

• Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Education Evidence Base (2016) 
• Senate Education and Employment References Committee into Inquiry into the current levels of access and attainment of students with disabilities (2015) 
• Senate Community Affairs References Committee into Prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders and speech pathology in Australia (2014)

Implementation fidelity of a computer-assisted intervention for children with speech sound disorders

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication and is based on work from our Sound Start Study.
McCormack, J., Baker, E., Crowe, K., Masso, S., McLeod, S., Wren, Y., & Roulstone, S. (2017, in press). Implementation fidelity of a computer-assisted intervention for children with speech sound disorders. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi 10.1080/17549507.2017.1293160
Here is the abstract:

Early childhood educators are frequently called on to support preschool-aged children with speech sound disorders and to engage these children in activities that target their speech production. This study explored factors that acted as facilitators and/or barriers to the provision of computer-based support for children with SSD in early childhood centres. Participants were 23 early childhood educators at 13 centres who participated in the Sound Start Study, a randomised controlled trial that examined the effectiveness of the Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter (PFSS) computer program (Wren & Roulstone, 2013). Following the trial, participants completed a telephone interview discussing their experiences implementing the program. Transcripts from the interviews were analysed and three categories emerged as factors that influenced the provision of support: (a) Personal factors that related to the children (engagement with PFSS, inclusion/exclusion experience), peers, and educators (service provision, educator engagement, and support of child PFSS use); (b) Environmental factors that related to policies and philosophies (child-centred practice, technology), the physical environment (inclusion/exclusion), and logistics (time, technology); and (c) Program factors that related specifically to PFSS (program format, specific games, game duration). In order to best meet the needs of children, parents, educators, and clinicians, these factors need to be taken into consideration in the provision of speech and language therapy services in early childhood centres.

Children with speech sound disorders at school: Challenges for children, parents and teachers

The following journal article has been accepted for publication:
Daniel, G. R. & McLeod, S. (2017, in press). Children with speech sound disorders at school: Challenges for children, parents and teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education.
It is available here: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol42/iss2/6 
Here is the abstract:

Teachers play a major role in supporting children’s educational, social, and emotional development although may be unprepared for supporting children with speech sound disorders. Interviews with 34 participants including six focus children, their parents, siblings, friends, teachers and other significant adults in their lives highlighted challenges for these children in school, and challenges for their parents and teachers in meeting these children’s developmental and educational needs. These challenges were centred on the need for specific expertise in the school setting, and access to additional classroom and professional services to support these students’ engagement in the learning and social environments of school. This research identifies frustrations that impact these families and teachers as they attempt to navigate the bureaucracies to which they are beholden.

2017 PhD students and post docs

In 2017 I am working with an amazing team:
CSU PhD students:

• Suzanne Hopf
• Ben Pham
• Helen Blake
• Anna Cronin
• Nicole McGill (nee Limbrick)

International PhD students:

• Natalie Hegarty (Ulster University, Northern Ireland)
• Anniek van Doornik-van der Zee (University of Utrecht, The Netherlands)

CSU Postdoctoral scholars:

• Kate Crowe
• Sarah Verdon
• Sarah Masso

The effect of oral English proficiency on humanitarian migrants’ experiences of settling in Australia

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication.
Blake, H. L., Bennetts Kneebone, L. & McLeod, S. (2017, in press). The effect of oral English proficiency on humanitarian migrants’ experiences of settling in Australia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1294557

It can be downloaded for free from here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SCMzCTEsAucbwEzRtjDi/full

Here is the abstract:

Key drivers for migrants’ social integration are education, employment, and skills in the dominant language of the settlement country. Data from Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants were used to examine migrants’ English proficiency and how oral English proficiency facilitated or hindered participation in activities that may help them become self-sufficient and settle. Participants were 2399 humanitarian migrants interviewed in the first wave of data collection (during 2013/14). Before arrival in Australia, 80.1% reported they spoke English not well or not at all. After arrival, oral English proficiency was a statistically significant predictor of self-sufficiency (knowing how to look for a job, get help in an emergency, etc.) explaining 21% of the variance while controlling for confounding variables such as age and education. After English proficiency, age (neither too young nor too old), gender (male), education (more than 12 years), and time since arrival (more than one year) were significant predictors of self-sufficiency. Identification of factors that predict self-sufficiency informs the understanding of people who provide support for humanitarian migrants. These findings indicate poor oral English skills may profoundly hinder humanitarian migrants’ ability to settle and highlight the importance of supporting migrants’ English learning.

Cowra Speech, Language and Literacy Summit

Last night Sarah McDonagh and I presented at the Cowra Speech, Language and Literacy Summit. Our presentations were titled "The road to children's speech, language and reading success". It was very well attended by educators, parents and health professionals from across the region (including Cowra, Dubbo, Grenfell and Canowindra).

A holiday in Spain

During February I had the most wonderful time exploring Spain with my family. What a diverse, colourful, creative, innovative, and friendly country. I look forward to visiting again as soon as possible.

Digital tools to support children’s speech and language skill

The following book chapter has been accepted for publication. It is based on work from the Sound Start Study.
Wren, Y., McCormack, J., Masso, S., McLeod, S., Baker, E. & Crowe, K. (in press). Digital tools to support children’s speech and language skill. In S. Danby, M. Fleer, C. Davidson & M. Hatzigianni (Eds). Digital childhoods: Technologies in children’s everyday lives. Dordrecht, Germany: Springer.
Here is the abstract

Most children develop speech and language with ease and quickly become sophisticated communicators. For some children however, these skills are acquired with difficulty and extra support is required. A range of digital tools are available to assist with this: some of these are based on theories of speech and language acquisition while others have been developed in response to market demands. Few empirical studies of digital tools for speech and language development have been carried out though some success has been noted when facilitated by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Given the interactional capabilities of digital tools, it would be helpful to identify whether they could achieve similar results independent of SLP support. One such tool, Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter®, was tested in a randomised controlled trial with early childhood educators delivering the intervention. Improvement in speech production varied across both groups and significant differences were not observed. However, supplementary investigations found that parents’ and educators’ were positive towards the use of digital tools and findings relating to the implementation of the intervention have been identified, which provide useful information for settings looking to use digital tools to promote speech and language skills in children.