| CODE | CMT5050 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Developmental Speech and Language Disorders in Childhood | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Human Communication Sciences and Disorders | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will equip students with a basic theoretical understanding of speech and language disorders that are not associated with a biomedical condition. It will cover Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder, all of which occur in the absence of conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, genetic syndromes and sensorineural hearing loss. Study-Unit Aims: - To provide students with a knowledge of disorders of speech, spoken language and written language that occur in the absence of a known biomedical condition; - To promote awareness of the impact that developmental speech and language disorders have on children鈥檚 lives; - To differentiate between Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder; - To introduce identification procedures employed with Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder; - To promote awareness of referral routes for appropriate management. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - critically review the potential sources of breakdown in the development of typical speech, spoken language and written language skills; - recognise the impact of Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder on children's communication, social participation, well-being and learning; - identify various possible manifestations of Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder; - critically examine the genetic, biological, cognitive, behavioural and environmental risk factors for these developmental speech and language disorders; - identify co-morbid conditions that tend to occur with Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder; - describe procedures employed by speech-language pathologists in assessment and intervention related to Speech Sound Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Written Language Disorder. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - recognise and identify children who potentially present with developmental speech and language disorders; - implement referral strategies for clinical assessment and intervention. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main texts: - Leonard, L.B. (2014) Children with Specific Language Impairment. (2nd ed.). MIT Press: Cambridge. - McLeod, S. & Baker, E.(2017). Children's Speech: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention. Boston: Pearson. - Snowling, M. and Stackhouse, J. (Eds.) (2001) Dyslexia: speech and language. A practitioner鈥檚 handbook. London: Whurr Publishers Ltd. Supplementary readings: a) Speech Sound Disorder - Adams, C., Byers Brown, B. & Edwards, M. (1997). Developmental Disorders of Language (2nd edition). London: Whurr Pub. (particularly Ch.5). - Dodd, B. (2005). The Differential Diagnosis and Treatment of Children with Speech Disorder. (2nd Edition). London: Whurr Pub. - Grech, H. & Mcleod, S. (2011). 鈥淢ultilingual Speech & Language Development鈥� in D. Battle (4th ed.). Communication Disorders in Multicultural Populations. Elsevier, US. - Grech, H. (2006). Phonological development of Maltese-speaking children. In Zhu, H. and Dodd, B. (Ed.), Phonological Development and Disorders: A Multilingual Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. b) Developmental Language Disorder - Adams, C., Byers Brown, B. and Edwards, M. (1997) Developmental Disorders of Language (2nd ed.) Whurr: London. - Chiat, S. (2000) Understanding Children with Language Problems. Cambridge: CUP. - Gatt, D., Grech, H., & Dodd, B. (2013). Early lexical expression in typically developing Maltese children: implications for the identification of language delay. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 27(6-7), 459-71. - Gatt, D. & O鈥橳oole, C. (2017). Risk and protective environmental factors for early bilingual language acquisition. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20(2), 117-123. - Lees, J. and Urwin, S. (1997) Children with Language Disorders (2nd ed) Whurr: London. - Norbury, C.F., Tomblin, J.B. and Bishop, D.V.M. (2008) Understanding Developmental Language Disorders: From theory to practice. Hove: Psychology Press. - Schwartz, R.G. (ed.) (2008) Handbook of Child Language Disorders. Hove: Psychology Press. c) Written Language Disorder - Bialystok , E. (2001) Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy and Cognition. Cambridge University Press. - Laing, S.P. & Kamhi, A. (2003).Alternative Assessment of Language and Literacy in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations. Language, Speech & Heairng 福利在线免费 in Schools, 34(1), 44-55 . - Peer, L. (1999). Dyslexia and multilingualism. Dyslexia, 5: 53-55. - Stackhouse, J. and Wells, B. (1997) Children鈥檚 Speech and Literacy Difficulties 1 鈥� A psycholinguistic framework. Whurr Publishers Ltd. - Stackhouse, J. and Wells, B. (1997) Children鈥檚 Speech and Literacy Difficulties 2 鈥� Identification and Intervention. Whurr Publishers Ltd. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Rachael Agius Daniela R. Gatt (Co-ord.) Estelle Zahra |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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