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Abstract

Background: The critical role of phonetic transcription in the assessment, diagnosis and management of speech disorders is well established and thus pre-registration degrees dedicate numerous hours to phonetic training. However, this training is not always fully utilised in clinical work and clinicians may find it difficult to maintain their skills, suggesting a ‘theory/practice gap’.

Aims: This paper surveys speech-and-language therapists’ views of their training, practice and maintenance of transcription in order to investigate the posited theory/practice gap and to explore how education in phonetics is translated into practice.

Methods & Procedure: Seven hundred and fifty nine speech-and-language therapists from the United Kingdom were surveyed via an online questionnaire. Multiple-choice questions were analysed using descriptive statistics, and free text comments were analysed thematically.

Outcomes and Results: Thirty-five percent of SLTs found learning phonetics quite easy, and 30% quite difficult. Respondents suggested that more time was needed to practise transcription in and out of the classroom, nevertheless the majority felt at least equipped to undertake transcription after their training. 75% of SLTs require transcription for their role, with 61% using it often or all the time. 45% use a mix of broad and narrow transcription, with 41% using only broad transcription. Those not using narrow transcription attributed this to a lack of confidence. 57% of SLTs did not feel supported to maintain transcription skills in the workplace and 80% had never attended a refresher course in transcription, with 75% wishing to do so.

Conclusions and Implications: As many clinicians found it difficult to learn transcription, there is an opportunity to provide more transcription practice both in and beyond the classroom. Despite most clinicians feeling equipped to undertake transcription upon completion of their training, and a large majority requiring transcription for their role, a theory/practice gap is apparent in the relatively small number of clinicians using narrow transcription exclusively, and those not using it expressing a lack of confidence in their skills. Additionally, as many clinicians have never attended refresher training in transcription, and rely on their course notes to maintain their skills, more provision of opportunities for revision should be made available. With clinicians remembering a need for more practice during their training, and expressing a desire for more training opportunities in practice there is an opportunity for clinicians, educators and regulatory bodies to work together to provide packages of transcription training material that can be used by students and practitioners to maintain and extend their skills.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Knight, R.-A., Bandali, C., Woodhead, C. & Vansadia, P. (2018). Clinicians’ views of the training, use and maintenance of phonetic transcription in speech and language therapy. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/110.1111/1460-6984.12381. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Language & Communication Science
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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