New publication about the Intelligibility in Context Scale

The following article has been published today:
McLeod, S. & Crowe, K. & Shahaeian, A. (2015). Intelligibility in Context Scale: Normative and validation data for English-speaking preschoolers. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 46(3), 266-276. doi: 10.1044/2015_LSHSS-14-0120

Here is the abstract:

Purpose: To describe normative and validation data on the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS, McLeod, Harrison, & McCormack, 2012a) for English-speaking children.

Method: The ICS is a seven item parent report measure of children’s speech intelligibility with a range of communicative partners. Data were collected from the parents of 803 Australian English-speaking children aged 4;0 to 5;5 (37.0% were multilingual).

Results: The mean ICS score was 4.4 (SD = 0.7) of a possible total score of 5. Children’s speech was reported to be most intelligible to their parent, followed by their immediate family, friends, and teachers, and least intelligible to strangers. The ICS had high internal consistency (α = .94). Significant differences in scores were identified based on sex and age, but not socioeconomic status (SES) or the number of languages spoken. There were significant differences in scores between children whose parents had concerns about their child’s speech (M = 3.9) and those who did not (M = 4.6). Sensitivity of .82 and specificity of .58 was established as the optimal cut-off. Test-retest reliability and criterion validity was established for 184 children with speech sound disorder. There was a significant low correlation between the ICS mean score and percentage of phonemes correct (PPC, r =.30), percentage of consonants correct (PCC, r =.24), and percentage of vowels correct (PVC, r =.30) on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (Dodd et al., 2002). Thirty-one parents completed the ICS about English and another language spoken by their child with speech sound disorder. The significant correlations between the scores suggest that the ICS may be robust between languages.

Conclusion: This paper provides normative ICS data for English-speaking children and additional validation of the psychometric properties of the ICS. The robustness of the ICS was suggested since mean ICS scores were not affected by SES, number of languages spoken, or whether the ICS was completed about English or another language. The ICS is recommended as a screening measure of children’s speech intelligibility.

Sound Start Study update

Professor Sharynne McLeod presented a Charles Sturt University School of Teacher Education Brown Bag Seminar on 20th July. The topic was "Sound Start Study: A large community-based study supporting preschoolers’ speech and pre-literacy skills". A podcast of the event is here:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/tarabrabazon/Sound_Start_Study.mp3
Here is the abstract:

The Sound Start Study is a large randomized controlled trial funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP1030102545). The three aims are (1) to determine whether a software program, Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter® improves the speech and phonological awareness abilities of preschoolers with speech sound disorders when undertaken in early childhood education settings (2) to determine the relationship between children’s speech errors, pre-literacy, and phonological processing skills and (3) to explore which child- and family-related variables are positively or negatively associated with the rate of change in speech production and pre-literacy status.

The Sound Start Study is being conducted over three years (2013-2015) and there are six stages of data collection per year: (1) screening via parent and teacher questionnaire, (2) face-to-face screening, (3) comprehensive assessment, (4) intervention, (5) immediate post-intervention assessment and (6) delayed post intervention assessment. In the first two years there have been 853 4- to 5-year-old preschool children from 34 early childhood education settings who have participated in stage 1, 197 in stage 2, 95 in stage 3, 86 children have been randomised to either intervention/no intervention across 29 sites in stage 4, 82 children were assessed in stage 5 and 80 in stage 6.

During stage 1 parents and educators completed the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (Glascoe, 2000) documenting their level of concern regarding their children’s/ students’ development. The most common area of concern was children’s “talking and making speech sounds”. The eight other areas were less frequently reported:“behaviour”, “understanding what you say”, “learning preschool/school skills”, “getting along with others”, “learning to do things for him/herself”, “using hands and fingers”, and “using arms and legs”. Overall, more parents and educators were concerned about children’s speech and expressive language skills than any other area. The results underscore the need for services to support children’s speech and language and the importance of assessment and intervention to support children’s transition to school.

Some of the Sound Start Study team:
Elise Baker, Sarah Masso, Sharynne McLeod, Kate Crowe, Charlotte Howland

School of Education - Research Seminar Series

Sarah Verdon is this month's speaker for the School of Education Research Seminar Series.

The seminar can be attended in person on the Albury campus or via video conference on the Wagga Wagga Campus on Wednesday 22nd July at 3pm.

Title

Embracing diversity, creating equality: Supporting the speech, language and communication of culturally and linguistically diverse children.

Abstract

Effective communication is essential for social engagement, educational attainment, and workforce participation. Australia, like many other English-dominant nations is becoming increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse. Therefore an understanding of this diversity is essential for planning services to support all Australian children to become competent and effective communicators in ways that are responsive to their cultural and linguistic background. Yet, little is known about Australian children’s linguistic diversity and how their multilingual speech, language, and communication development can be supported.

This seminar presents the findings of mixed methods PhD research which aimed to contribute to what is known in this area by describing the linguistic diversity of Australian children and the current services available to support them. Additionally, the research investigated approaches to practice that can facilitate positive outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse children with speech, language, and communication.

The first part of this presentation draws upon large scale longitudinal data sets of over 5000 children to examine cultural and linguistic diversity and language maintenance among Australian children, as well as the services available to support their communication.

The second part of this presentation will present the findings from an ethnographic study of professional practice in 14 international sites in Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, and the US, identified as working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Ethnographic data were analysed using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT, Engeström, 1987), a heuristic framework that made visible the reality and complexities of professional practice culturally and linguistically diverse populations. From these analyses six overarching principles for guiding practice with culturally and linguistically diverse children were identified: (1) identification of culturally appropriate and mutually motivating therapy goals, (2) knowledge of languages and culture, (3) use of culturally appropriate resources, (4) consideration of the cultural, social and political context, (5) consultation with families and communities, and (6) collaboration with other professionals.

The seminar will explore each of these principles and how they can be applied in practice to support the communication of culturally and linguistically diverse children.

We look forward to seeing you at the seminar.

AJLL Publication by Tessa Daffern, Noella Mackenzie & Brian Hemmings

The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (AJLL) has recently released its latest issue, which includes an article informed by Tessa's doctoral research:

Daffern, T., Mackenzie, N., & Hemmings, B. (2015). The development of a spelling assessment tool informed by Triple Word Form Theory.  Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 38(2), 72-82.

Australian Literacy Educators' Association National Conference (July 2015)

Several researchers from RIPPLE presented at the recent ALEA/AATE National Conference held in Canberra in July 2015: Noella Mackenzie, Tessa Daffern and Christine Edwards-Groves.  Informed by her PhD, Tessa Daffern presented the following Research Paper and Workshop:

Research Paper: Explicitly teaching spelling strategies: Does it lead to compliance or curiosity?
A shift in emphasis from rote learning of isolated words and Friday spelling tests, to intentional discussion and inquiry into the thinking processes and linguistic components associated with spelling is unequivocally powerful.  This paper presents one case study from a mixed methods research project conducted through Charles Sturt University.  It illustrates the importance of explicitly teaching strategies beyond ‘sounding out’ and ‘memorizing’, as well as teaching the metalanguage associated with spelling.  The study demonstrates how teachers can foster students’ curiosity about words and consequently improve their spelling.  Using examples from the study, participants will be able to draw their own conclusions about how they can improve their students’ spelling.  Pedagogical issues are addressed with practical suggestions provided.  By the end of the session, participants will be able to reflect on and share their own responses to the question posed in the title.

Workshop: Nurturing a personal curiosity of words: A focus on spelling
The diversity of students’ spelling achievements within a single class creates particular challenges for teachers who seek to nurture students’ personal curiosity of words in a way that leads to improved spelling.  Informed by Triple Word Form Theory, this interactive workshop is founded on the view that students can be taught to evaluate and reflect on their own spelling in ways that empower and motivate them to improve.  The session draws on findings from a research project, conducted through Charles Sturt University, which examined the spelling achievements of 1400 students across 17 schools in the Australian Capital Territory.  As part of this research project, an analytical tool was developed and provides an innovative framework from which to examine students’ spelling errors in the context of their written compositions.  In this workshop, participants will explore this tool by engaging in the spelling assessment of a student’s written composition and by considering ways in which students can learn to evaluate their own spelling in a meaningful way.  A differentiated approach to spelling instruction will also be discussed, and complimentary material will be provided.

New journal article - Becoming bilingual: Children’s insights about making friends in bilingual settings.

The following article co-authored by members of the SLL strand was accepted for publication this week.
 

McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. & Theobald, M. (2015, in press July). Becoming bilingual: Children’s insights about making friends in bilingual settings. International Journal of Early Childhood 

 

Here is the abstract

The majority of the world speaks more than one language yet the impact of learning a second language has rarely been studied from a child’s perspective. This paper describes monolingual children’s insights into becoming bilingual at four time points: two months before moving to another country (while living in Australia), as well as one, six, and twelve months after moving to Germany. The participants were two monolingual English-speaking siblings (a male aged 7- to 8-years and a female aged 9- to 10-years) who subsequently learned to speak German. At each of the four time points, interviews were undertaken with each child using child-friendly drawing and questionnaire techniques. Three themes were identified: (1) the children’s awareness of language competence, (2) inclusion factors, and (3) exclusion factors that influenced friendship formation. The impact of language ability on making friends was a dominant theme that arose across the four time points and was triangulated across data collection methods. The children made friends with others who had similar language competence in German, even though they were younger, and did not share the same first language. Age-matched peers who were more competent in German were less likely to be described as friends. Across all three themes, the playground was highlighted by both children as the key site where becoming bilingual most strongly impacted initiation and negotiation of friendships. Becoming bilingual impacted the children’s friendship formation and socialization opportunities with more competent language users.

"Samantha's" drawing at time 2 (she had just arrived in Germany) when
her new friend could not understand her English

"Samantha's" drawing at time 4 when
she and her friends had learned to speak German

 

Australasian Human Development Association (AHDA) conference, Wellington, New Zealand

A group of researchers from Charles Sturt University (CSU) attended the Australasian Human Development Association (AHDA) conference in Wellington, New Zealand last week. The group presented a symposium which contained papers from members of RIPPLE's Speech, Language and Literacies strand.

The symposium was titled:
Supporting the Development of Children with Speech and Language Difficulties in the Early Years.

The symposium contained the following papers:
1. Trajectories of teacher-student relationship quality during primary school in children with and without communication impairment and student outcomes at age 12-13
Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang, Sharynne McLeod, Sue Walker

2. Supporting multilingual children’s language development in the early years
Sarah Verdon, Sharynne McLeod, Sandie Wong

3. An ideal world: Increasing awareness of professional beliefs, values and attitudes to improve the support of children with speech and language difficulties in the early years
Catherine Easton, Jane McCormack

4. The story of the echidna and the calculator: Using children's pronunciation of polysyllables to gain insight into their emergent literacy skills
Sarah Masso, Elise Baker, Sharynne McLeod 

The symposium generated a great deal of discussion between audience members and also provided an opportunity for symposium members who are located on different campuses of CSU to share and discuss their work face to face. 

Below is a photo of the presenters and authors who attended the conference.

From left: Catherine Easton, Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang, Sue Walker, Sarah Verdon and Sarah Masso.

Australian Literacy Educators Association

I have recently made two presentations at the annual literacy conference in Canberra. As a recent of these presentations I have been invited to give a keynote address at the 2016 annual ALEA conference to be held in Adelaide (in July).

The first was a paper that was drawn from my book "Classroom Talk: Understanding dialogue, pedagogy and practice" (co-authored with Dr Michele Anstey and Dr Geoff Bull).

Title: Enacting dialogic pedagogies: Understanding the repertoire of “talk moves” to improve classroom discussions

Abstract:

Participating in classroom discussions is an everyday schooling practice. Understanding the efficacy of these discussions as forums for reflecting and improving student learning remains a primary matter of concern for teachers, and is the focus of this workshop. Through the use of practical classroom examples, participants will be assisted to understand the dimensions of a discourse-intensive classroom that support students to develop ideas and knowledge through deepening reasoning, engaging in active listening and critical thinking. Examining transcripts of classroom discussions will assist participants to identify particular “talk moves” which serve as strategic approaches for building a dialogic learning environment specifically aimed at supporting the development of language ‘for effective interaction and expression’ (ACARA 2013). The workshop will support teachers understandings of enacting dialogic pedagogies which encompass a range of productive interactional (relating), socialising (communicating and participating), and intellectual (knowing) functions in teacher-student interactions. 

The second paper I presented on behalf of my Honours student Emma McLennan (who was awarded First Class Honours for her study)

Title: Socially accomplishing group work in a Stage 3 classroom: conversation resources for co-production, collaboration and situated action.

Abstract:

This research paper reports on a study investigating how students socially accomplish group work to complete a classroom poetry writing task. The study drew on conversation analysis (CA) as a method to examine the interaction resources a group of five Stage 3 students used in their moment-by-moment interactions to successfully produce their poem. The study involved analysing a transcript (using Jefferson Notation) developed from a video recording of the interactions among the group. 

CA showed with a fine-grained level of detail, that the particular students implicitly drew upon their knowledgeability of both their situation and common-sense conversation resources to produce, analyse and make sense of their social, literate and educational worlds. For instance, interaction practices such as turn-taking, managing interactive trouble, showing agreement and alignment emerged as contributing talk patterns enabling the students, in ‘co-production’, to ‘become a group’ at the same time ‘talk their poem into being’ (a poem).