Helen Grech | University of Malta (original) (raw)
Papers by Helen Grech
This paper will review the currently adopted terminology regarding multilingualism. Speech and la... more This paper will review the currently adopted terminology regarding multilingualism. Speech and language acquisition in children exposed to more than one language is discussed in relation to that of monolingual children. The challenges related to assessment and the identification of multilingual children with communication disorder will be the focus of the paper. Opportunities for multilingual children to acquire optimal communication skills as well as intervention strategies that are currently applied to enhance speech and language acquisition of multilingual children with communication impairment are discussed in the light of the recommendations of learned societies and current literature. Finally, a case study of a specific language pair will be presented whereby research findings related to the speech and language acquisition of young Maltese children is reported.
... References Borg, AJ and Azzopardi-Alexander, M.(1997) Maltese. London: Routledge. ... Unpubli... more ... References Borg, AJ and Azzopardi-Alexander, M.(1997) Maltese. London: Routledge. ... Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Malta. Grech H., Dodd, B. and Franklin, S.(2011) Maltese-English Speech Assessment (MESA). Malta: University of Malta. ...
The South African journal of communication disorders. Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings, Dec 31, 2000
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
Folia Phoniatrica Et Logopaedica, Dec 21, 2005
The Communication Therapy (CT) Division of the University of Malta is relatively small and young ... more The Communication Therapy (CT) Division of the University of Malta is relatively small and young and is the only local training establishment of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the Maltese Islands. It aims to achieve a distinctive profile of excellence and international standing in the education and training of caring, accountable and autonomous SLPs. Various strategies are adopted by the CT Division in order to reach its goals and to overcome its limitations and challenges. These include running its own Teaching and Research Clinic, engaging in European staff/student exchange and conducting research projects with other organizations to develop scientific data and tools for use with the Maltese communication-disordered population.
Frontiers in Neurology
The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impac... more The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impacts hearing capacity and mental health has gained attention. Although pure tone audiometry is the gold standard for assessing hearing, it inadequately reflects everyday hearing abilities, especially in challenging acoustic environments. Deficits in speech perception in noise, a key aspect of APD, have been linked to an increased risk of dementia. The World Health Organization emphasizes the need for evaluating central auditory function in cases of mild hearing loss and normal audiometry results. Specific questionnaires play a crucial role in documenting and quantifying the difficulties faced by individuals with APD. Validated questionnaires such as the Children’s Auditory Processing Performance Scale, the Fisher’s Auditory Problems Checklist, and the Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire are available for children, while questionnaires for adults include items related to auditory func...
Folia Phoniatrica Et Logopaedica, 2019
Forced migration has spread and grown across continents in recent decades. This has had an impact... more Forced migration has spread and grown across continents in recent decades. This has had an impact at various levels such as societal communication, health and education priorities, as well as political agendas and economic stability. As a result of the combined forces of migration, globalisation, advances in communication technology and education, there is an exceptional research interest in individuals seeking refugee status or asylum. The literature is sporadic on forced migrants’ communication and social adaptation. The perception of residents and professionals who encounter the challenges faced by these individuals on a regular basis needs to be evaluated, as well as the perception of the migrants themselves. This paper presents the current state of affairs and reviews the relevant literature with the intention of providing a more coordinated overview of forced migrants’ and relevant stakeholders’ views. A case scenario is presented that discusses the communication challenges faced by forced migrants. Strategic recommendations are also discussed.
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 31, 2006
Brief Around 10% of children, with no other developmental problems, fail to acquire adequate spee... more Brief Around 10% of children, with no other developmental problems, fail to acquire adequate speech and language skills by the time they begin school. It is therefore vital for speech and language pathologists to access to assessments which will accurately identify these children, allowing for timely intervention. No standardised tests of speech and language abilities currently exist in the Maltese language. The aim of this study is to analyse speech and language samples from a large group of typically developing children living in Malta. Data were collected following the development of specific speech and language tests (funded by a previous FP6 MC-TOK-DEV grant). A novel feature of the data collected was that children were able to respond to test stimuli using either Maltese or English. The objectives of the study include the standardisation and publication of the 2 assessment batteries, one for speech (= 'MESA') and one for language (= 'LAMC'), which each include ...
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs
The performance of children and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) on reading subskills and non... more The performance of children and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) on reading subskills and nonword reading was investigated. The performance of the participants with DS (N = 42) was compared to that of typically developing (N = 36) peers matched on fluid intelligence abilities. The study accounted for the different depths in orthography presented by the two languages. The independent samples t‐test, Mann–Whitney U‐test, ANCOVA and correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. This study identified that the participants with DS had several strengths, such as nonword reading, visual discrimination (VD) and phonological awareness. Verbal short‐term memory, visual perceptual processing skills other than VD and rhyming skills were identified as weaker in DS compared with the control group. Results call for educators to expose readers with DS to a phonological approach to reading while accommodating difficulties in VSTM.
Acquiring the ability to read is a complex process that involves a number of skills. Recent liter... more Acquiring the ability to read is a complex process that involves a number of skills. Recent literature confirms that many individuals with Down syndrome (DS) can acquire useful levels of reading ability which can open new opportunities. In contrast with the typically-developing (TD) population, students with DS portray an uneven pattern of development of pre-reading and reading skills. This commentary explores the aspects that need to be considered when assessing the pre-literacy and literacy abilities of students with DS in the Maltese bilingual context. Its aim is to identify the components of an assessment protocol that could be used to evaluate the literacy-related abilities of students with DS.
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
This paper discusses the viability of the English-Maltese Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (EMA... more This paper discusses the viability of the English-Maltese Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (EMASH), a bilingual assessment battery that was developed to identify handwriting difficulties in 14–15-year-old Maltese students. Since there are no locally available standardized assessments that measure writing speed performance, the aim of this study was to pilot the novel assessment on a small sample of participants prior to the main data collection stage. A cross sectional, quantitative research design was applied. The English and Maltese versions of the assessment were administered to 70 (34 boys and 36 girls) participants from Maltese state, independent and church schools. Measures of face and content validity, internal consistency reliability and discriminative validity were conducted. These validity and reliability measures, together with participant performance and feedback, determined the changes that needed to be made to the administration, instructions, format and content of t...
The effectiveness of intermittent electrical stimulation on lower extremity arterial perfusion an... more The effectiveness of intermittent electrical stimulation on lower extremity arterial perfusion and walking capacity in patients living with diabetes and intermittent claudication
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
Institute of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech, 2015
This paper will review the currently adopted terminology regarding multilingualism. Speech and la... more This paper will review the currently adopted terminology regarding multilingualism. Speech and language acquisition in children exposed to more than one language is discussed in relation to that of monolingual children. The challenges related to assessment and the identification of multilingual children with communication disorder will be the focus of the paper. Opportunities for multilingual children to acquire optimal communication skills as well as intervention strategies that are currently applied to enhance speech and language acquisition of multilingual children with communication impairment are discussed in the light of the recommendations of learned societies and current literature. Finally, a case study of a specific language pair will be presented whereby research findings related to the speech and language acquisition of young Maltese children is reported.
... References Borg, AJ and Azzopardi-Alexander, M.(1997) Maltese. London: Routledge. ... Unpubli... more ... References Borg, AJ and Azzopardi-Alexander, M.(1997) Maltese. London: Routledge. ... Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Malta. Grech H., Dodd, B. and Franklin, S.(2011) Maltese-English Speech Assessment (MESA). Malta: University of Malta. ...
The South African journal of communication disorders. Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings, Dec 31, 2000
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
Folia Phoniatrica Et Logopaedica, Dec 21, 2005
The Communication Therapy (CT) Division of the University of Malta is relatively small and young ... more The Communication Therapy (CT) Division of the University of Malta is relatively small and young and is the only local training establishment of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the Maltese Islands. It aims to achieve a distinctive profile of excellence and international standing in the education and training of caring, accountable and autonomous SLPs. Various strategies are adopted by the CT Division in order to reach its goals and to overcome its limitations and challenges. These include running its own Teaching and Research Clinic, engaging in European staff/student exchange and conducting research projects with other organizations to develop scientific data and tools for use with the Maltese communication-disordered population.
Frontiers in Neurology
The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impac... more The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impacts hearing capacity and mental health has gained attention. Although pure tone audiometry is the gold standard for assessing hearing, it inadequately reflects everyday hearing abilities, especially in challenging acoustic environments. Deficits in speech perception in noise, a key aspect of APD, have been linked to an increased risk of dementia. The World Health Organization emphasizes the need for evaluating central auditory function in cases of mild hearing loss and normal audiometry results. Specific questionnaires play a crucial role in documenting and quantifying the difficulties faced by individuals with APD. Validated questionnaires such as the Children’s Auditory Processing Performance Scale, the Fisher’s Auditory Problems Checklist, and the Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire are available for children, while questionnaires for adults include items related to auditory func...
Folia Phoniatrica Et Logopaedica, 2019
Forced migration has spread and grown across continents in recent decades. This has had an impact... more Forced migration has spread and grown across continents in recent decades. This has had an impact at various levels such as societal communication, health and education priorities, as well as political agendas and economic stability. As a result of the combined forces of migration, globalisation, advances in communication technology and education, there is an exceptional research interest in individuals seeking refugee status or asylum. The literature is sporadic on forced migrants’ communication and social adaptation. The perception of residents and professionals who encounter the challenges faced by these individuals on a regular basis needs to be evaluated, as well as the perception of the migrants themselves. This paper presents the current state of affairs and reviews the relevant literature with the intention of providing a more coordinated overview of forced migrants’ and relevant stakeholders’ views. A case scenario is presented that discusses the communication challenges faced by forced migrants. Strategic recommendations are also discussed.
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 31, 2006
Brief Around 10% of children, with no other developmental problems, fail to acquire adequate spee... more Brief Around 10% of children, with no other developmental problems, fail to acquire adequate speech and language skills by the time they begin school. It is therefore vital for speech and language pathologists to access to assessments which will accurately identify these children, allowing for timely intervention. No standardised tests of speech and language abilities currently exist in the Maltese language. The aim of this study is to analyse speech and language samples from a large group of typically developing children living in Malta. Data were collected following the development of specific speech and language tests (funded by a previous FP6 MC-TOK-DEV grant). A novel feature of the data collected was that children were able to respond to test stimuli using either Maltese or English. The objectives of the study include the standardisation and publication of the 2 assessment batteries, one for speech (= 'MESA') and one for language (= 'LAMC'), which each include ...
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs
The performance of children and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) on reading subskills and non... more The performance of children and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) on reading subskills and nonword reading was investigated. The performance of the participants with DS (N = 42) was compared to that of typically developing (N = 36) peers matched on fluid intelligence abilities. The study accounted for the different depths in orthography presented by the two languages. The independent samples t‐test, Mann–Whitney U‐test, ANCOVA and correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. This study identified that the participants with DS had several strengths, such as nonword reading, visual discrimination (VD) and phonological awareness. Verbal short‐term memory, visual perceptual processing skills other than VD and rhyming skills were identified as weaker in DS compared with the control group. Results call for educators to expose readers with DS to a phonological approach to reading while accommodating difficulties in VSTM.
Acquiring the ability to read is a complex process that involves a number of skills. Recent liter... more Acquiring the ability to read is a complex process that involves a number of skills. Recent literature confirms that many individuals with Down syndrome (DS) can acquire useful levels of reading ability which can open new opportunities. In contrast with the typically-developing (TD) population, students with DS portray an uneven pattern of development of pre-reading and reading skills. This commentary explores the aspects that need to be considered when assessing the pre-literacy and literacy abilities of students with DS in the Maltese bilingual context. Its aim is to identify the components of an assessment protocol that could be used to evaluate the literacy-related abilities of students with DS.
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
This paper discusses the viability of the English-Maltese Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (EMA... more This paper discusses the viability of the English-Maltese Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (EMASH), a bilingual assessment battery that was developed to identify handwriting difficulties in 14–15-year-old Maltese students. Since there are no locally available standardized assessments that measure writing speed performance, the aim of this study was to pilot the novel assessment on a small sample of participants prior to the main data collection stage. A cross sectional, quantitative research design was applied. The English and Maltese versions of the assessment were administered to 70 (34 boys and 36 girls) participants from Maltese state, independent and church schools. Measures of face and content validity, internal consistency reliability and discriminative validity were conducted. These validity and reliability measures, together with participant performance and feedback, determined the changes that needed to be made to the administration, instructions, format and content of t...
The effectiveness of intermittent electrical stimulation on lower extremity arterial perfusion an... more The effectiveness of intermittent electrical stimulation on lower extremity arterial perfusion and walking capacity in patients living with diabetes and intermittent claudication
University of Malta eBooks, 2011
Institute of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech, 2015