Speech and Language Therapy BSc(Hons)

You’ll be introduced to the clinical and professional capabilities of speech and language therapists and provided with the opportunity to develop your knowledge, understanding and practical skills related to the profession. You’ll participate in two placements during the year. The placements will provide the opportunity for you to start developing an understanding of the speech and language therapists role, as well as the breadth of settings they work within and the range of potential service users.

This module provides the opportunity to gain foundation knowledge from a range of disciplines of relevance to speech and language therapy. You’ll be introduced to theoretical issues in linguistics. You’ll also learn about the milestones, features and theories of typical development of speech, language and communication from birth to school age. Your development as a holistic practitioner will be further enhanced through an awareness of social and cognitive models of psychology, changes and adaptations of an individual across the lifespan, as well as socio-cultural influences.

This module introduces you to the service user’s journey within speech and language therapy, as well as principles of assessment, diagnosis, management and intervention. Focusing on disorders and conditions affecting fluency, voice and the development of speech sounds in children, you’ll consider factors that influence clinical decision-making from referral to discharge. You’ll also gain basic knowledge and understanding of a range of models and theories of the causes of disorders and conditions affecting fluency, voice and the development of speech sounds, as well as their impact on the health, wellbeing and participation of an individual.

This module introduces you to the structure of language as a system. You'll be able to explore the basics of linguistic description, using mostly, but not only, the English language to illustrate. The module focuses on the fundamental linguistic concept of ‘levels’ of language, starting from the smallest (sounds) and building up to sentence structure. Emphasis is on the development of practical skills in analysing language structure. This module will be assessed by a mixture of coursework assessments and formal examinations.

This module involves a multidisciplinary team-based learning approach, where you'll work with occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry students and speech and language therapy students. It will introduce you to the role of research and evidence-based practice exploring different research methodologies and the concept of ethics within healthcare research. You'll have the opportunity to develop transferable skills in literature searching using electronic databases, academic writing and referencing. You'll also explore lifelong learning, reflective practice and continuing professional development that underpins the essential skills needed to understand registration requirements for your specific professional and regulatory body.

This module focuses on developing your professional and clinical skills in practice education, working in collaboration and partnership with service users and relevant professionals during placement experiences. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in the observation, assessment and intervention of individuals with a range of speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. You’ll participate in two placements where you’ll have the chance to extend your knowledge within the core areas of clinical and professional capabilities, including learning about and practising record keeping, reporting and the planning and delivery of intervention and management.

You’ll have the opportunity to learn about the development of speech, language and communication skills throughout pre-school and school years, transitioning into young adulthood. You’ll explore presenting features and differential diagnoses of typical/atypical speech, language and communication. Theoretical models of multilingualism and the links between language and literacy will be considered. You’ll also be introduced to mental health conditions in children and young people with communication difficulties and the impact these can have on functional abilities. You’ll also learn about the role of a speech and language therapist when working with developmental speech, language and communication needs.

This module provides the opportunity to learn profession-specific knowledge and skills that can be applied in the management of clients with speech, language and communication difficulties. You’ll learn about a range of subject areas which underpin the core knowledge and skills of effective speech and language therapy practice, focusing on clinical phonetics, clinical linguistics and psycholinguistics. Within this module, there will be an emphasis on the practical application of theory and you’ll be given opportunities to practice your analytical skills in a variety of interactive ways, for example data analysis, phonetic transcription and peer-working in tutorials.

This module provides the opportunity to build on your knowledge of research from Year 1 and prepares you to undertake an area of research in Year 3. You’ll explore data collection and analysis in relation to methods which are currently used in research and evaluation of practice.

You’ll integrate theory with practice to develop your clinical and professional knowledge and skills within practice education, in preparation for becoming an autonomous and competent newly qualified practitioner. During the two blocks of supervised placement experiences you’ll participate in the assessment, diagnosis, intervention and management of individuals with speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. In lectures you’ll discuss social, cultural and political influences on the professional context and the provision of services within the NHS and independent sectors. This module enables you to critically reflect on your experience, knowledge and skills and identify your strengths and development needs ready for your transition into the workplace.

In this module you’ll study a range of neurodevelopmental conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), hearing impairment, social communication disorder, cerebral palsy, and profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). You’ll also study features of language disorder associated with neurodevelopmental conditions. Your theoretical knowledge will be applied to current approaches to assessment, differential diagnosis, intervention and management of service users across the lifespan, including the impact of individual and environmental factors and the use of inclusive communication (signing, picture symbols, communication devices). You’ll also explore the roles a speech and language therapist undertakes within neurodevelopmental conditions.

This is a multidisciplinary module which follows on from Research 2. You'll undertake a small-scale research project related to an interdisciplinary research environment. You’ll work in a multi-professional group, with other health professional students on a defined topic area with a named supervisor. You’ll also be involved in data collection. Your research proposals will be subject to the necessary ethical approvals within the University.