The School of Linguistics and Language Studies proudly offers a practicum in Speech Language Pathology (SLP) through LING 4604. This field placement course allows students to pursue personal learning objectives related to the clinical application of research in psycholinguistics, communication differences and disabilities, and language development.
Professor Tamara Sorenson Duncan, who is the Practicum Coordinator for LING 4604, notes that the practicum offers undergraduate linguistics students a unique opportunity to apply the theoretical foundations from their courses to real-life situations.
“Students gain hands-on experience that help them plan for their future careers.”
– Tamara Sorenson Duncan
We spoke with four students who participated in the Fall 2023 practicum to learn more about their placements. Read more about their experiences and their advice to future practicum students below.
Meet Emma F. (left), Jasmine H. (middle), and Barbara U. (right). Delaney H. is not pictured.
Where was your placement? What kind of tasks and responsibilities were you assigned?
EF: My placement was at ACT Learning Centre in Nepean. I was able to join sessions with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or communication disorder assistant (CDA). I observed sessions and sometimes I was able to participate. During down-time at the centre, I helped organize books in an online library as well as catalogue resources.
JH: I was assigned to an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) placement, so I was volunteering at an elementary school one full day a week with my SLP Jacquee. I mostly observed and assisted with articulation assessments for the kindergarten students by bringing them to and from class and giving out prizes. After the assessments, I would review the notes my SLP took. I also helped fill out and organize paperwork, and I worked on articulation with a few older students.
BU: I did my placement with a Speech Language Pathologist at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). I visited four different schools, one of which was online. I was able to sit in on about 50 articulation assessments and a couple of language assessments. I also independently ran weekly speech therapy sessions with a student online after getting trained by my SLP. These sessions were focused on the child’s articulation. Additionally, I helped my SLP with processing and submitting paperwork to the main OCDSB domain.
DH: I was placed within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. I divided my time across 2 schools and I shadowed two SLPs (one at each school). At one placement, the majority of my time was spent in the kindergarten classrooms modelling speech and identifying any possible speech disorders. At my other placement, I was assigned a wide variety of tasks. I participated in both assessments and interventions. I spent early September reading to Kindergarten classes, but as the semester progressed, I designed and led lessons in the Language Learning Disability classroom. I also led some one-on-one phonological disorder practice.
What did you enjoy most about the experience?
EF: I enjoyed making connections with the employees at ACT and learning more about each discipline’s career path and the work that they do. My favourite sessions were when I was able to watch multiple professionals collaborate during a session including SLPs, CDAs and occupational therapists (OT). I loved watching each discipline bring knowledge from their own background to help the child.
JH: While I enjoyed working with the kids, I actually enjoyed just learning about the day-to-day responsibilities and the process the school board SLPs follow as it gave me a lot of insight as to what to expect in the future.
BU: I enjoyed the amount of diversity. The diversity in the different tasks allowed me to experience so much in only a semester. The diverse amount of people I met allowed me to learn not only about SLP as a career but also careers that I may have not known about before, such as a Learning Support Teacher. Being in the schoolboard setting allowed me to also meet a diverse range of students, who come from various backgrounds and display a wide variety of speech and language difference.
DH: Although I enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of being an SLP, I really enjoyed the simplicity of working with kids all day, cracking jokes with them, and playing with them during their ‘center time.’
Did your placement align with your personal and career goals and aspirations?
EF: In the future, I hope to work with children in a hospital or private practice. I enjoyed interacting with the children during sessions and seeing the children’s progress over the practicum. This placement at ACT also showed me the unique learning process and goals for each child. Each session had different aspects that were aimed to improve behaviour, speech or the ability to move around efficiently.
JH: Originally I thought I wanted to work with adults and seniors but working with kids really opened up the kind of work I’m interested in.
DH: My placement is just what I needed to solidify that I wanted to become an SLP. It was so refreshing to see all of the concepts I’ve spent so much time learning in the classroom applied in a real-life situation. This experience helped me become much more confident working alongside other adults and being a strong leader for the young students. There were occasions where I needed to step outside my box and although it was nerve-wracking, it helped me grow and become much more confident.
How did your placement experience differ from your expectations?
EF: My placement differed from my expectations because of how much I enjoyed the difference of everyday. Even though I attended the practice the same day of the week all term, each visit contained observing children of all abilities, each with unique goals. I enjoy the constant change of the SLP’s day depending on the number of sessions, the children they see, if other disciplines are collaborating, and what level the children are at in their speech journey.
BU: Coming into the placement I was not sure what to expect. I had a subtle idea about what SLP’s do from guest speakers in classes and YouTube videos but because we are in undergrad we don’t delve deep into speech pathology. That being said, I really wanted to just see if this profession would be the right fit for me before I go through more years and money of school. The placement definitely solidified this.
DH: As mentioned earlier, I was placed at two different schools. These schools were located in very different communities. I didn’t expect community and familial matters to have such a drastic impact on each individual child’s language development and intervention for communication differences. It has opened my eyes to how important external supports are for children in the community.
Did your placement expose you to any new technologies or methodologies? How did this impact your understanding of the field of Speech Language Pathology?
EF: I was able to observe sessions children who are natural language learners and see others use ACC as their primary source of communication. The children who I saw use an IPad with an app that contains pictures/words which generate speech output. I was amazed at the amount of nonverbal children who have found success using AAC to communicate during a session as well as outside the practice. I had never heard about natural language leaners before the practice but quickly realized how popular it is. Natural language learners begin speaking only by repeated phrases learned from TV shows and movies but after completing the approach, are able to communicate using the proper grammar and semantics.
BU: I visited the school board where they have their resource library. This is where they keep all the assessment booklets, activities, and the Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices. I was able to browse the library and get a glimpse on the different testing methods they use when assessing a child’s speech or language difference. This made me understand how complex every difference is and how much SLPs need to do in order to help each child with their unique needs.
DH: I wasn’t necessarily exposed to any new technologies or methodologies, but I was exposed to a variety of methodologies. It was helpful to work alongside more than one SLP, so I could see the differences in approaches to assessment and intervention.
How did your placement contribute to your understanding of the real-world applications of the theories and concepts you learned in your coursework?
EF: I was able to see SLPs take notes and preform assessments of the children during sessions. This is often combined by information provided by their teacher and parents in order to gain knowledge of their speech in different environments. This helps determine the strengths, needs and progress of each child and determine their diagnoses. Also, I was able to see a variety of children with communication differences that I had learned about in past courses. I noticed most often the children had co-occurring differences (e.g., ASD and ADHD) that made the structure of the session and the instruction so individual to each child.
DH: I found that a lot of the concepts I have learned so far were touched upon during my placements. One thing that differed was that assessment and diagnosis were less straightforward than textbooks imply. For example, there were many cases were students had been diagnosed with several communication differences, not just one. The SLPs spent a significant amount of time trying to tease apart which diagnosis was responsible for their varied learning difficulties. Also, one of the schools I volunteered at was primarily occupied by students who spoke English as their second language. It was tricky at times to be able to figure out if the students’ communication differences were caused by a low English proficiency or a communication disorder.
What advice would you give to other undergraduate students who are about to embark on their placements?
EF: I would tell other students to take any opportunity to learn something new. This could be observing sessions with different professionals, who look at helping the child from a different perspective. This could be introducing yourself to a new career that you may have never considered, or just expanding your knowledge on the overlap of disciplines across speech therapy.
JH: Be open to working in different environments and ask lots of questions even if they’re not directly related to what you’re doing in your placement – you can get some great perspectives on things you’ve learned online or in class.
BU: Have fun and take notes about things you find interesting!
DH: I would tell other students to keep an open mind and just have fun!
Click here for more information, including eligibility criteria, about the practicum in Speech and Language Pathology (SLP).