Speak Out April 2016

BRANCH news victoria

Speech Pathology students on a tour to Cambodia include Lisette Ogg, Claire Jarvis, Greta Ruaro, Sarah Biscaro, Emma Jordan, and Craig Willis.

Student Community Engagement in Cambodia

use of family titles (e.g. mother, father, etc.) and production of sound blends. We were fortunate to work with excellent interpreters, who helped us build rapport and exposed us to the practicalities of translation. In addition to our face-to-face work with students, we recorded the curriculum and lesson plans that we created for our classes to ensure that future volunteers could expand upon these resources, thus ensuring sustainability. While we were kept busy lesson planning and teaching daily, we were eager to explore the Cambodian lifestyle. We were fortunate to be provided with good quality bikes, enabling us to experience Battambung like true locals. We visited markets and eateries, took hikes, visited temples, and paid our respects at sites affected by the Khmer Rouge. However the highlight was a weekend away to Siem Reap, where we explored the incredible Angkor Wat. We were in awe of this incredible, intricate temple complex built thousands of years ago. Our experience in Cambodia will stay with us for a lifetime and we feel extremely lucky that ACU promotes this opportunity for students to enhance the abilities and wellbeing of people and communities globally. We’ve gained useful skills and confidence that has contributed to our personal and professional development. I would also like to thank the staff of Challenges Abroad (who facilitated our stay), and the students and staff of Kdol Teav High School, and Doun Teav Primary School for their discipline, enthusiasm and warmth. By Lisette Ogg ACU Speech Pathology Student

In February this year, 14 speech pathology students from Australian Catholic University (ACU) travelled to Battambung in north-western Cambodia for a two-week community engagement opportunity with The Future Sense Foundation. This foundation collaborates with local communities and non-profit organisations in developing countries to improve education, child welfare, and economic outcomes. The opportunity to visit Battambung is part of an ACU initiative that sees students complete community engagement experiences locally or abroad during their undergraduate degree. Upon arrival we received an orientation to Cambodia including a briefing about the tragedies of the Khmer Rouge regime and the importance of education to build opportunities for young Cambodians. The teaching of the English language is viewed as being particularly important as a tool of international communication, enabling Cambodians to participate in international development opportunities. Separate programs were developed for students at two schools (one primary and one high school). Part of the high school program concentrated on fun, age appropriate ways to teach the sounds ‘ch’, ‘sh’, and ‘th’.The Future Sense Foundation identified these sounds as stumbling blocks for Cambodian students, as these sounds don’t exist within the Khmer language. We also spent time teaching plurals, the simple past tense ‘ed’, and the present progressive tense ‘ing’. In the primary school setting, we focused on play-based lessons to raise students’ awareness of English letter-sound knowledge,

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Speak Out April 2016

Speech Pathology Australia