International Award for Research Excellence in Communication Therapy
The International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), which represents members from 55 countries worldwide, presented Daniela Gatt from the University of Malta with the Award for Excellence in Student Research at its 27 th World Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 5-9 August 2007. This award is bestowed every 3 years upon a student producing evidence of outstanding research carried out in the field of speech-language pathology. Ms Gatt received the award following submission of an article, which draws on her current doctoral research, entitled Establishing the concurrent validity of a vocabulary checklist for young Maltese children. Ms Gatt is a registered speech-language pathologist and an assistant lecturer within the Communication Therapy Division, University of Malta. Her article will be published in the IALP’s scientific journal Folia Phoniatrica et Logopedica.
Two other Maltese professionals in the field of speech-language pathology also participated in the IALP World Congress and presented excerpts of their ongoing research. Ms Rachael Xuereb, a Ph.D. student within the Communication Therapy Division, Institute of Health Care, gave a presentation on her doctoral research entitled Literacy skills in Maltese-English bilingual children.
Dr Helen Grech, co-ordinator of the Communication Therapy Division, University of Malta, presented a paper co-authored with Prof. Barbara Dodd from City University U.K., related to the ongoing research project (partly funded by the EU) on the speech development of Maltese Children. She presented another paper on the education of speech-language pathologists in Malta. Dr Grech was re-elected General Secretary of the International Association for the next 3 years.