https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49415 Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:11:45 GMT 2026-04-15T22:11:45Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52597 Title: The development of a speech and language screening tool for 3-year-old Maltese children Abstract: The aim of this study was to develop a speech and language screening tool for 3-year old children living in Malta. It included a group of 200 participants attending state and independent schools. The screen included a parent questionnaire, a language screening test and a speech screening test. A sentence imitation task (SIT) which is a subtest found in the Language Assessment for Maltese Children (LAMC; Grech, Franklin, & Dodd, 2011a) was used to screen language abilities. Their speech abilities were screened through a picture naming task (PNT) using pictures obtained from the Maltese-English Speech Assessment (MESA; Grech, Dodd & Franklin, 2011a). The results were analysed to determine the children’s performance pertaining to age, gender and test language (Maltese or English). The parents’/guardians’ responses on the questionnaire were then compared with the results of the speech and language tasks. The screening tool was also tested for reliability and validity as well as sensitivity and specificity. The correlations between the tasks and the questionnaire responses were statistically significant but weak for the SIT and moderate for the PNT. Findings show that age and gender were the main predictors of the SIT while gender alone predicted the PNT score. The screening tool was found to be both reliable and valid. It also had a high level of sensitivity (85.7% for the SIT and 75% for the PNT) and specificity (92.3% for the SIT and 91.7%. for the PNT) making it an efficient tool for screening speech and language skills of 3-year-old children. Description: M.SC.CLINICAL SPEECH&LANG.SC. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52597 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52583 Title: The token test : preliminary normative data and validation for Maltese people with Aphasia Abstract: Local Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) currently lack evaluative tools for assessing Maltese-speaking persons with aphasia (PwA) that have been standardised and normed on the Maltese population. This has resulted in SLPs using informal assessment methods that lack psychometric data to guide them in identifying difficluties and scoring performance. The aim of this research was to improve the clinical use of the Maltese version of the Token Test (TT) by developing preliminary normative data for Maltese-speaking adults and establishing it’s psychometric for PwA. The TT is one of the most popular specific language function tests employed in aphasia, that has been proven to be extremely sensitive in identifying weaknesses that are central to aphasia. The TT was translated to Maltese by Grima in 2016 via a committee approach including a forward-and-backward translation method. In this research TT performance scores were obtained from a sample of 107 individuals without any history of neurological damage and another sample of 19 individuals following a stroke in the subacute phase. The Clock-Drawing Test and the Maltese Aphasia Screening Test were used to control cognitive impairments and language difficulties. The Aphasia Severiy Rating Scale was used for in order to detect and classify the severity of aphasia in neurologically impaired individuals. Descriptive and inferential analysis revealed that typical TT performance was influenced by the participants’ age and level of education. These variables were significant enough for the construction of normative tables stratified by age and education. Gender played no significance on TT performance. The Maltese version of the TT was able to detect typical performance from that of PwA of different severity levels. High levels of validity and reliability were revealed in this research confirming its utility as a clinical tool for Maltese PwA. Description: M.SC.CLINICAL SPEECH&LANG.SC. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52583 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52580 Title: Speech sound disorders and phonological awareness skills in Maltese children aged 4 to 6 years Abstract: This study investigates the link between Speech Sound Disorders (SSD) and Phonological Awareness (PA) skills in Maltese children, aged 4 to 6 years. It explores the 5 sub types of SSDs using Dodd’s classification system (1995, 2005) – articulation disorder, phonological delay, inconsistent speech disorder, consistent deviant phonological disorder and developmental verbal dyspraxia. It also explores whether children with SSD present with phonological awareness difficulties and are at an increased risk for consequent reading disability (RD). Five research tools were used for the purpose of this study: a speech assessment, a phonological awareness screening tool, an intelligibility rating scale and two self-developed questionnaires – one for parents and one for teachers. 45 typically developing (TD) children and 36 children presenting with SSD were assessed on an adapted version of a phonological awareness screening tool developed by Pace-Gellel (2004). The group of children with SSD was also assessed on the Maltese-English Speech Assessment (MESA; Grech, Dodd & Franklin, 2011). Findings show that typically developing children outperformed children with SSD on all measures of the Phonological Awareness Screening Tool. Moreover, children with inconsistent and consistent phonological disorders performed less well than children presenting with articulation difficulties or phonological delays. Bilingual Maltese-English speakers performed better then monolingual speakers on all measures of phonological awareness. Participants with a family history of literacy and/or language based disorders exhibited poor phonological awareness abilities. Description: M.SC.CLINICAL SPEECH&LANG.SC. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52580 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52569 Title: The impact of stroke-induced dysphagia on the quality of life of Maltese people Abstract: The purpose of this research is to investigate how dysphagia affects the Quality of Life of Maltese individuals who experienced a stroke and that of their primary caregivers. This study included 28 participants: 10 with stroke-induced dysphagia, nine with stroke and no dysphagia, and nine caregivers. A self-devised case-history form was used to obtain general and demographic information about the participants who experienced a stroke. The Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) was used to measure the severity and specific symptoms of oropharyngeal dysphagia and its effect on different domains related to Quality of Life. Two other short questionnaires about Quality of Life were devised for the purpose of this research: one for the participants with stroke (Quality of Life – Participant Questionnaire; QoL – PQ) and one for the caregivers (Quality of Life – Caregiver Questionnaire; QoL – CQ). Quantitative data gathered from the SWAL-QOL and QoL – PQ was compared in relation to three independent variables: (1) presence of dysphagia; (2) place of residence; and (3) gender. Quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the QoL – CQ was analysed by comparing responses between caregivers of persons with dysphagia and caregivers of individuals with no dysphagia. Findings showed that stroke-induced dysphagia has a negative impact upon different Quality of Life domains of both the individuals who have experienced a stroke and their caregiver. Two major themes were derived from the qualitative responses of the QoL – CQ. Whilst the first theme outlined the effect of the individual’s stroke on the caregiver’s Quality of Life, the second highlighted the difficulties and changes encountered by caregivers during meal preparation. This research shed light on the importance of viewing each and every individual holistically in order to understand better the perceived impact of post-stroke dysphagia on the Quality of Life of each individual. Description: B.SC.(HONS)COMMUNICATION THERAPY Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52569 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z