Community Health

• Email the School
• General Inquiries

Language and communication are key elements of what makes us human. Libby’s initial training and clinical work as a speech pathologist stimulated her current research interests in diverse aspects of communication, particularly what happens when communication is difficult for one reason or another.  She worked for over 10 years with people who had complex communication needs as a result of traumatic brain injury or cerebral palsy – but also spent time working as an ESL teacher to overseas trained health professionals.  These experiences lead her into applied linguistics research and then into teaching. In addition to her academic work, Libby supports people to become passionate about language through involvement in high school linguistics programs, professional development for teachers and is a regular on the radio show on ABD Goulburn Murray – “Just Say the Word” .

Positions and Roles

• Lecturer in Speech Pathology, Charles Sturt Univeristy  

Teaching

Libby has over 20 years experience in providing professional education programs to graduates and undergraduates in health and education.

Subjects Delivered

• Introduction to Linguistics
• Analysing Professional Interactions
• Communication and Disability
• Professional Issues in Speech Pathology Practice
• Introduction to Clinical Practice
• Language Disorders in Children
• Voice Disorders

Research and Publications

Libby has been actively involved in clinical and academic research since the early 1990’s as a project worker, a research consultant, an honours research supervisor and currently as a PhD student.

List of Publications

• Clark, L. 2013. Be careful what you wish for! Supporting students to become proficient with multi-modal communication. AGOSCI Newsletter ‘In Focus’. February 2012.
• Denton, M. Clarke, K. Clark, L & McCormack, J. 2012. ‘Going the Distance’: Extending a successful model of speech therapy service provision from regional to remote/rural locations in NSW. Proceedings, Speech Pathology Australia 2012 National Conference.
• Clark, L.  2007. Ethnography and Conversation Analysis.  In G. Whiteford (ed) Voice, Identity & Reflexivity, Proceedings of the Second Qualitative Research as Interpretive Practice Conference. 22-23 September, 2005 (pp. 250-254). Bathurst: Charles Sturt University
• Clark, L 2006. Powerful Language, Bad Language: An exploration of swearing in Australian culture. ACQ. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia.
• Clark, L.  & Murphy M.  2005. Focus group discussions: a guide to using them to investigate beliefs and attitudes to health and health care. ACQ 7 (3): 95-98
• Clark, L.  2005. Competence and Diversity: Inclusive Strategies for supporting students from non-English speaking backgrounds in Speech Pathology Programs.  Proceedings of the Speech Pathology Association of Australia National Conference, Canberra. pp 120 – 126
• Clark, L.  1999.  English Language Competence for Speech Pathology Practice: Identifying evaluation criteria. Final Project Report. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia
  

Community Engagement

Libby has maintained an active role in the profession for the past 20 years– through involvement in publishing, research and committee work at both state and national level.  She has a keen interest in developing linkages across professional boundaries with other health, education and disability workers – as well as with client, family and community groups.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Member, Speech Pathology Australia
• Member, AGOSCI – Australian Group on Severe Communication Impairment.
• Member, VBIRA – Victorian Brain Injury Rehabilitation Association
• Member, IPrA – International Pragmatics Association.
• Life member, ISCA - International Society for Conversation Analysis