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Communication Disorders and Sciences

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Communications Disorders and Sciences

  • Student awardees
  • students and faculty at the american speech, language and hearing association november 2019 annual convention in orlando florida

    ASHA Conference, Orlando, Florida

  • images show clients vestiblar testing with diagnostic equipment

    Department of Communication Disorders & Sciences

Policy: Spoken and Written Language Proficiencies

♦ ASHA Position Statement

It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders who speak with accents and/or dialects can effectively provide speech, language, and audiological services to persons with communication disorders as long as they have the expected level of knowledge in normal and disordered communication, the expected level of diagnostic and clinical case management skills, and if modeling is necessary, are able to model the target phoneme, grammatical feature, or other aspect of speech and language that characterizes the client's particular problem. All individuals speak with an accent and/or dialect; thus, the nonacceptance of individuals into higher education programs or into the professions solely on the basis of the presence of an accent or dialect is discriminatory. Members of ASHA must not discriminate against persons who speak with an accent and/or dialect in educational programs, employment, or service delivery, and should encourage an understanding of linguistic differences among consumers and the general population.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1998). Students and Professionals Who Speak English With Accents and Nonstandard Dialects: Issues and Recommendations [Position Statement]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.

 

♦ ACAE Standard 22: Required Knowledge & Competencies: The program must provide evidence that each student is able to, 1) Communicate effectively, both orally and in written form [ ... ], and 2) Produce professional written reports [ ... ] during clinical experiences.

Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education, available from ACAE Website

M.S. Residential Policy and Procedure

CAA Standard 4.2:  "The program must have a policy regarding proficiency in spoken and written English and other languages of instruction and service delivery and all other performance expectations", -and- "The program must demonstrate that its language proficiency policy is applied consistently."

  • Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR or CD566).
  • Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR or CD566). 
    • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
  • Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566 discuss the outcome of CALIPSO documentation with the Coordinator of the Language, Speech and Hearing Center (LSHC) and/or the Director of the LSHC.  
  • Based on the CALIPSO documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566, recommendations are developed. 
  • Recommendations may include:
    • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica, student teaching experiences, and externship experiences. 
    • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
    • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.

M.S. Distance Learning Policy and Procedure

CAA Standard 4.2:  "The program must have a policy regarding proficiency in spoken and written English and other languages of instruction and service delivery and all other performance expectations", -and- "The program must demonstrate that its language proficiency policy is applied consistently.

  • The CDS Distance Learning Program Coordinator serves as the advisor for all students in the program. 
  • General information regarding advisement and requirements for proficiency in spoken and written English are provided to all students at the start and periodically throughout the program through group online sessions.
  •  Individual advisement is provided as needed to address any of the following issues:
    • Program performance issues/concerns
    • Requests for leave of absence
    • Clinical performance issues/concerns including proficiency in spoken and written English
    • Student request to meet with the program advisor
  • The program advisor works directly with faculty, as needed, in addressing academic performance issues and developing necessary remediation plans to address these issues.  Faculty follow the CDS department process for developing remediation plans.  The Distance Learning Program has a separate remediation policy and process specifically for the clinical practicum courses.
  • Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR).
  • Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR). 
    • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
  • Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566 discuss the outcome of CALIPSO documentation with the Distance Learning Program Coordinator.  
  • Based on the CALIPSO documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD565GR, recommendations are developed. 
  • Recommendations may include:
    • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica, student teaching experiences, and externship experiences. 
    • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
    • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.

Au.D. Residential Policy and Procedure

ACAE Standard 22: Required Knowledge & Competencies: The program must provide evidence that each student is able to, 1) Communicate effectively, both orally and in written form [ ... ], and 2) Produce professional written reports [ ... ] during clinical experiences.

  • Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into TYPHON during students first two semesters of clinic (i.e., CD770 and CD771).
  • Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into TYPHON during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD770 and CD771). 
    • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
  • Clinical Educators of  CD770 and CD771 discuss the outcome of TYPHON documentation with the Program Director of the Doctor of Audiology program, and the Director of the Language, Speech and Hearing Center (LSHC).  
  • Based on the TYPHON documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD770 and CD771, recommendations are developed. 
  • Recommendations may include:
    • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica and and externship experiences. 
    • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
    • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.
Communication Disorders and Sciences
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