Linguistics for Speech Pathology

In this unit, students will develop their understanding of the form, content and use of human communication. They will learn how people perceive, form and use speech sounds when communicating. By studying phonetics, students will learn about the science of speech. This includes using the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet to transcribe speech sounds. They will also examine how the vocal tract relates to the different speech sounds and explore the basic acoustic features of consonants and vowels. The unit introduces students to discourse level features of language, and functional and descriptive grammars. It covers areas such as word classes, tense and sentence structures. Through a mix of interactive tasks and readings, students will have opportunity to explore the form, content and use of human communication for adults and children.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Exemplify foundational understanding of the transcription of speech sounds in words and phrases using the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols and conventions;
2. Qualify consonant and vowel sounds in terms of articulatory and acoustic phonetics;
3. Exhibit foundational understanding of the linguistic features of a range of texts (oral and written) using appropriate meta-language; and
4. Differentiate between and hypothesise why differences occur in language and speech patterns across groups of people.