The Department of Communication Therapy (CT) within the Faculty of Health Sciences, of the University of Malta hosted the 17th International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA) Conference, between 23-25 October 2018 at the Corinthia Hotel, St George鈥檚 Bay, St Julian鈥檚, Malta.
The conference attracted close to 300 participants, most of whom were international scholars hailing from 28 countries. Local speech language pathologists as well as undergraduate and postgraduate Communication Therapy students also participated.
Opening speeches were delivered by Professor Saviour Zammit, Pro-Rector, Professor Hanne Gram Simonsen, President, ICPLA and Professor Helen Grech, Conference Convenor and Head of Department.
The scientific programme included 3 keynote speeches presented by international scholars, who focussed on evidence-based practice and motor speech disorders, acquired language disorder and developmental language disorder, respectively. There were 8 panels covering distinct themes related to clinical speech and language sciences, phonetics and audiology. Additionally, the programme included 100 individual oral presentations spread over parallel sessions and 70 scientific posters.
The Social Programme included guided tours to key historical sites in Malta. The General Assembly selected Glasgow, Scotland, as the venue for the next ICPLA conference in 2020.
