ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

Literacy

100

ACQ

Volume 11, Number 2 2009

ACQ

uiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing

literacy programs, and we are almost ready to publish our

preschool literacy support program. All of our programs are

derived from these programs is channelled directly into the

work of the unit.

The education activity of the unit has led to over 3000

speech pathologists, learning support teachers and

other education professionals receiving training regarding

phonological awareness and addressing literacy learning

failure, through programs built on the principles of

phonological awareness (PA) remediation. To date, we

have undertaken training seminars throughout Queensland,

in northern New South Wales, the Northern Territory,

Thailand and Singapore. The training is not limited to a

single profession, as our premise is that literacy learning

failure needs to be addressed through an interdisciplinary

approach. Hence our integration of the skills and knowledge

inherent in speech pathology, occupational therapy and

teaching professions – as is reflected in the composition of

our Literacy for Life team.

For those who are not convinced about training others

to deal with PA-based difficulties, our experience is that

this training leads to better recognition in the classroom of

students who are at risk, and to better understanding of

the implications of PA difficulties across the curriculum and

into adulthood. In our programs and training we constantly

emphasise the need for consultation with, and referral to,

both speech pathologists and occupational therapists.

We particularly draw attention to the difference between

identifying children “at risk” and undertaking diagnostic

decisions. We also stress that children whose literacy

difficulties cannot be addressed at the school level need

to be referred to a speech pathologist, and that ultimate

diagnostic and treatment decisions must lie with the

appropriate professional. Based on feedback that we receive

from schools, we believe that the rate of appropriate referrals

has improved overall.

Several of the schools that have implemented our

programs have won both state and federal awards for

the improvements in the overall literacy achievements

demonstrated by their students. Blackwater North

State School, in Central Queensland, received a Highly

Commended Award in the 2006 National Literacy and

Numeracy Excellence in Australian Schools Awards. After

implementing the ELF program, Blackwater North nearly

halved the percentage of students identified as requiring

extra intervention for reading in the year 2 “net” (from 51.9%

he Literacy for Life Unit was established in the

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, at

The University of Queensland, to ensure that the

early seminal work of speech pathology researchers in

the school continues to support speech pathologists and

educationalists who work with those who have phonological

processing-based literacy learning failures. The unit is

managed by speech pathologist and business manager

Carolyn Burrows, and includes a team of academics and

clinicians whose interests lie in the issue of reading and

writing difficulties across the lifespan – especially those

related to phonological awareness difficulties.

When the unit was established, the team members

identified three major areas of activity: research, service

and education. The research team includes Dr Julie

Marinac, whose interest is primarily literacy learning failure in

adolescence, and, for his audiological expertise, Dr Wayne

Wilson. Professor Bruce Murdoch, Head of the School of

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, maintains a mentoring

and consultation role in relation to the research activities of

the unit.

In addition to the ongoing input from the team’s speech

pathologists, the service and education aspects are delivered

by other team members, including our learning support

teacher, Kate Pitty, and an occupational therapist. Three

former team members who must also be acknowledged

are occupational therapist Heather Allison, and speech

pathologists Tessa Barnett (now in Sydney) and Elizabeth

Savina. Their authorship of the Phonological Awareness

for Literacy (PAL) and Early Literacy Fundamentals (ELF)

programs was of the highest quality.

The work of the Literacy for Life Unit has led to the

publication of the ELF program (originally published as the

UQELF – Early Literacy Fundamentals; School of Health

and Rehabilitation Sciences, 2003, 2004); the PAL (originally

published as the UQPAL; School of Health and Rehabilitation

Sciences, 2000, 2008), and the Phonological Awareness

Training in High Schools (PATHS; Marinac, 2009). The

UQELF and UQPAL lost the tag “UQ” when the unit licensed

all three products to an international publisher. The programs

were developed as support programs for learning support

teachers to use in consultation with their school-based

speech pathologists. In conjunction with the ELF and PATHS

support programs, our team have produced the ELF – CA

(classroom activities) and a classroom edition of PATHS.

Further products are on the horizon – we are in negotiations

with a major health group to develop and deliver adult

Literacy for Life Unit

An activity update

Carolyn Burrows and Julie Marinac