This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the profession of a Speech-Language Assistant. Topics include professional ethics, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), and gaining familiarity with the association's guidelines for becoming a registered Speech Language Assistant. Also discussed are roles and responsibilities such as observing, documenting, defining, and understanding goals and objectives in educational and medical settings; implementing both immediate and long-term accommodations; working as part of a team; practicing appropriate health and safety precautions; and working effectively with cultural differences in diverse populations.

This course introduces phonetic principles, categorization of sounds, and various applications of these concepts. Students become familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), learn to read a Speech-Language Pathologist's transcription, and develop their own transcription skills. Articulation and phonological disorders are presented and distinctions and direct connections discussed, with the primary emphasis on intervention and remediation strategies. Additional topics include children and adults for whom English is a second language, and individuals with dialectic and/or cultural differences.

This course introduces research, theory, and practical applications pertinent to first language acquisition. The development of language is explored through its five major components: phonology, pragmatics, semantics, morphology, and syntax. Stages of acquisition are traced from pre-linguistic communication in infancy through adolescents' use of abstract thinking and expressions. Distinctions between language disorders and developmental differences are considered, as are relationships between language and literacy skills (reading and writing).

This course provides students in the Speech-Language Assistant concentration with a series of introductory fieldwork experiences during which they will observe Speech-Language Pathologists as they provide speech and language therapy to clients. Students gain practical experience in observing techniques and theories as applied in a therapeutic setting. Twenty-five hours of observation are required for each two-credit practicum, in settings approved by the clinical faculty.