The document provides instructions for an assignment on communication disorders. Students are asked to find three peer-reviewed journal articles published within the last 10 years on a communication disorder covered in their textbook. They must upload one of the articles to the class page along with a 500-word summary of the key points. The summary should include the article's goal, methodology, results, and the student's conclusion. References for all three articles must be included as well. Additional instructions are provided for part B of the assignment which involves writing a 2000-word paper on a specific communication disorder.
1. 271.150 ASSIGNMENT 1A
WRITING WORKSHOP
Due Date: Wednesday March 27th 4 pm
Use the Library's ARTICLE DATABASES to identify and search relevant journal
article databases to find three journal articles on one communication disorder
covered in your textbook.
The articles should have been published in the last 10 years, be from peer
reviewed journals and be relevant to your level of knowledge (i.e. you can
understand/explain the purpose/results of the article). These articles will form
the basis for the 2nd portion of the written assignment (i.e. part B).
Choose one article to upload into the glossary in the 271.150 Stream page. Give a
brief synopsis of the one chosen article in your own words and the key points you
learnt.
2. Your brief synopsis may include but is not limited to:
• an introduction to the overall goal of the article
• a review of what methodology did the researchers use to gain results
• what the results indicated
• your conclusion based on your review of the article.
The essay should be 500 words or less. Not included in the page limit is a
reference list containing the three articles in correct APA 6th edition format.
Although you did not use all three articles for the summary, you are to reference
all three for this portion of the assignment.
For this portion of the assignment only (i.e. do not provide a flow chart for future
assignments), use a flow chart to document the process of finding these articles
via the library database. Your flow chart should be user friendly so that I am able
to follow your steps and find the same article you have provided.
3. ASSIGNMENT 1B
Due Date: Wednesday May 22nd 4 pm (Workshop Tues May 7th 1.30 – 2.30 pm LIB)
You will write a paper focusing on a particular disorder that affects communication e.g.
Parkinson’s disease, Stuttering, etc.
Epidemiological information (e.g. gender effects, prevalence, incidence etc.)
Aetiology (i.e. cause of the disorder). If the cause is unknown, what are the key theories
about the cause?
Communication profile: How do people with the disorder typically function in the
communication areas listed below? (The following headings are examples)
Content (semantics)
Form (phonology, morphology, syntax)
Use (pragmatics)
How is the disorder likely to impact the person’s functioning (activities and
participation)?
Prognosis (expected outcome) for the communication disorder if known.
Speech-language therapy intervention – may be best describe one or two common
therapy types.
The word limit is 2000 words.
4. ASSIGNMENT 1A - STRATEGIES
• Use your textbook and quality online sources to get an overview of the
condition
• Use keywords from your overview and from the parts of Assignment B to
search databases – e.g. MedLine, EBSCO Host Health Database search etc
• Be patient – there are 100s of articles on each condition
• Use the titles and abstracts to decide if the article is worth reading
• If you find a good recent article, look in the reference list and search
within the same journal for others
• Select articles which are easier to understand and more relevant to parts
of this assignment
• Aim for a balance between review articles and research reports
5. APA REFERENCE CHECK
How many errors can you find in this reference list?
Works Cited
Kahnemann, D. (2003). Maps of Bounded Rationality. The American economic
review 93(5), 1449-1475.
Kahnemann, D., Fredrickson, B. I., Schreiber, C.A., Redelmeier, D.A. (1993).
When more pain is preferred to less: Adding a better end. Psychological Science
4(6), pp. 401-405.
Krause, TR. (2008) The role of cognitive bias in safety decisions. Occupational
Hazards, 28
6. APA REFERENCE CHECK
Correct version
References
Kahnemann, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality. The American Economic
Review, 93(5), 1449-1475.
Kahnemann, D., Fredrickson, B. I., Schreiber, C. A., & Redelmeier, D. A. (1993).
When more pain is preferred to less: Adding a better end. Psychological
Science, 4(6), 401-405.
Krause, T. R. (2008). The role of cognitive bias in safety decisions. Occupational
Hazards, 28.
7. What’s the correct citation and end-of-text
reference for this article?
Article Title: Rethinking aphasia therapy: A neuroscience perspective
Author: Rosemary Varley
Journal: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (Vol. 13,
Issue 1)
DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2010.497561
Page numbers: 11-20
Year: 2011
Varley (2011) argues for a more holistic and concrete approach to therapy for
aphasia, focusing on the use of sensory-perceptual tasks to reconnect
functional and non-functional components of processing systems.
Varley, R. (2011). Rethinking aphasia therapy: A neuroscience perspective.
International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(1), 11-20.
doi: 10.3109/17549507.2010.497561
8. PLANNING YOUR SYNOPSIS
Suggestions for how to distribute your 500 words
among the different sections:
• overall goal of the article (60 – 80 words / 3 – 5 sentences)
• methodology (120 – 160 / 5 – 8 sentences)
• what the results indicated (120 - 160 / 5 – 8 sentences)
• your conclusion (100 – 150 / 4 – 7 sentences)
• Every article is different, so the balance will vary, but aim to
make sure you do cover all the bases.
9. WRITING YOUR SYNOPSIS - 1
Overall goal of the article (60 – 80 words / 3 – 5
sentences)
Could cover:
• Which aspect of the disorder the study focuses on
• Which gap or problem in existing research it aims to fill
• Which research question(s) are stated
• Which hypothesis / hypotheses is / are tested
10. Example:
This article describes a small-scale exploratory study of culturally-
appropriate interventions for elderly adults with dysarthria who
were members of an indigenous Inuit community in Canada. The
authors note that conventional interventions appear to have had
limited success in addressing the needs of the growing numbers of
people with dysarthria from indigenous communities. They
hypothesised that a culturally-appropriate intervention, developed
and ‘owned’ by the communities themselves, would have greater
rates of uptake, completion and perceived impact on the quality of
life of indigenous people with dysarthria than conventional
interventions. (88 words)
11. WRITING YOUR SYNOPSIS 2
Methodology (120 – 160 / 5 – 8 sentences)
Could cover:
• General approach (e.g. Quantitative / Qualitative / Mixed
Methods / Exploratory etc)
• Research Design (e.g. Comparing treatment and control groups /
Comparing situation before and after treatment etc)
• Sampling Method and Size (e.g. Random etc)
• Procedure (e.g. Three or four steps or stages in the treatment)
• Data collection (e.g. observation, measurement, interviews, focus
groups etc)
• Data analysis (e.g. correlation, regression, coding etc)
12. Example
The researchers followed a case-study methodology, measuring the
effects of the LSVT program on a single participant – a 48-year-old Israeli
woman who had been diagnosed with Ataxic Dysarthria. The participant
completed a standard LSVT program consisting of 16 sessions over a four-
week period. Treatment sessions focused exclusively on loud phonation,
without attention to speaking rate or articulation. Data, consisting of
both acoustic and perceptual measures, were collected pre- , post- and
delayed post- treatment. Additional data on the social and
communicative impact of the condition were collected pre- and post-
treatment from the participant’s employer (using the Minnesota
Satisfactoriness Scale) and the participant herself (using a semi-
structured interview). Because of the small sample size, gains on the
acoustic measures were analysed through a simple comparison of
means, while gains on the perceptual measures were analysed through a
chi-square test. (139 words)
13. WRITING YOUR SYNOPSIS 3
What the results indicated (120 - 160 / 5 – 8
sentences)
Could cover:
• Was there any gain post-treatment or any significant differences
between the control and treatment groups?
• Was the hypothesis (Were the hypotheses) supported or not?
• How do the authors explain the findings?
• Did they acknowledge any limitations (which might reduce the
validity / generalizability of the findings?
14. Example
The findings support the hypothesis that participation in an intensive
treatment programme, combining phonation, respiratory and physical
therapy can improve the functional speech abilities of an individual with
hypokinetic-spastic dysarthria and cognitive deficits following traumatic
brain injury. Gains were made in speech breathing during oral reading
and monologues, though not in spontaneous speech. Improvements in
lung volume levels were maintained three months post-treatment. The
researchers attributed these gains to increased abdominal strength and
lower ribcage hypertonicity. The validity and generalisability of the study
were limited, however, by its focus on a single participant and lack of
control of extraneous variables. For instance, the participant continued
to practice his own exercises post-treatment, which undermined the
validity of the delayed post-treatment measure. However, in the context
of this case-study, the results indicate that the treatment was successful.
(135 words)
15. WRITING YOUR SYNOPSIS 4
Your conclusion (100 – 150 / 4 – 7 sentences)
Could cover:
• Overall value of the study
• Key contributions to knowledge and practice
• Ideas for further research to build on the study
• What the study highlights about research in SLT
• Important limitations
16. Example
This study highlights the potential for mobile SLT applications to
supplement clinic and home-based services, particularly for assessment
and guidance for the growing numbers of people with dysarthria as a
result of strokes, traumatic brain injury or neurological disorders. The
Action-Research methodology showed how a practising SLT could
incorporate research into her practice, making improvements in both. As a
small-scale pilot study, its results have limited generalisability, but suggest
that well-designed mobile applications can provide trained users with
assessment and treatment information of acceptable reliability. Potential
benefits of the technology include its relatively low cost, its user-
friendliness and, in particular, its impact on the perceived self-esteem and
independence of users (110 words).