The profile of first year Speech-Language Therapy students

Background

The transformation of the profession of Speech-Language Therapy (SLT) in South Africa post democracy continues to evolve to meet the current challenges of providing clinical services to individuals with communication and swallowing disabilities, who come from diverse cultural, linguistic and socio-economic contexts (Khosa-Shangasa & Mophosho, 2018; Moonsamy, Mupawose, Seedat, Mphosho & Pillay, 2017). A key factor that contributed to this challenge was the historical “exclusions of black and African language speaking candidates in higher education training programmes” (Khosa-Shangasa & Mophosho, 2018, abstract line 4). Through redress, the current demographic profile of first-year SLT students in the Discipline of Speech-Language Therapy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has transformed to include increased numbers of black and African language speaking students. To promote equity and access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, UKZN has increased intake from quintile 1 to 3 schools. These are non-fee-paying schools that serve the poorest communities in the country. The schools face challenges such as lack of resources, poor infrastructure, low-quality teaching, and low academic performance (Ogbonnaya & Awuah, 2019).

The positive transformation initiatives, however, have highlighted important challenges in the discipline’s teaching and learning programme which include (1) students’ limited knowledge about the profession of SLT which impacts on engagement in learning; (2) students’ under-preparedness for tertiary education; and (3) English Additional Language students’ difficulty in coping with English as the medium of instruction. It is anticipated that understanding students’ educational and personal backgrounds, as well as their knowledge and perception of the SLT profession, would enable educators and academic support programmes to provide more targeted discipline-specific intervention to meet students’ academic needs in terms of aspects such as reading and written language that is discipline specific, delivery of teaching and learning, and language of instruction.

Aim

The aim of this study is to identify the teaching and learning needs of first year SLT students by understanding the students’ demographic profile and their knowledge and perception of the profession.

Research Question

What are the teaching and learning needs of first year Speech-Language Therapy (SLT) students based on their demographic profile and knowledge and perception of the profession?