Dr LAU, Suk Han Polly    劉淑嫺 博士
Associate Head
Department of Special Education and Counselling
Contact
ORCiD
0000-0002-7496-6911
Phone
(852) 2948 8107
Fax
(852) 2948 7794
Email
pollylau@eduhk.hk
Address
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
Website
https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=161002&name=LAU, Suk Han Polly
Scopus ID
23768195700
Research Interests
  1. Language development and language disorders
  2. Speech sound disorders
  3. Inclusive and special education

Teaching Interests
  1. Language development and language disorders
  2. Assessment and intervention of speech, language and communication disorders
  3. Catering for diverse learning needs
  4. School guidance and counselling
  5. Aural Rehabilitation

External Appointments
  1. Honorary Advisor, Rehabilitation & Youth Services, Yan Chai Hospital (2004 – now)
  2. Guest Speaker, The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong (2007 – now)
  3. Clinical Consultant, K.C. Liang Po Lam Early Education and Training Service of Haven of Hope Christian Service (2005-2006, 2013 - now)
  4. Clinical Consultant, Po Leung Kuk Child Care Services (2014 – now)
  5. Clinical Consultant, YWCA Wong Chuen King Student Development Centre (2016 – 2018)
  6. Clinical Consultant, Haven of Hope Sunnyside Enabling Centre, Haven of Hope Christian Service (2013 – 2018)
  7. Academic Member, Expert Panel of the Hong Kong Association of Speech Therapists (2013 - 2016)

Personal Profile
  1. A qualified Speech Therapist and Audiologist with extensive experience in clinical teaching and supervision over the past 30 years
  2. Departmental Teaching Awards in 2016/17 and 2017/18
  3. Faculty Top 10% Teaching Award in 2017/18

Research Interests
  1. Language development and language disorders
  2. Speech sound disorders
  3. Inclusive and special education

Teaching Interests
  1. Language development and language disorders
  2. Assessment and intervention of speech, language and communication disorders
  3. Catering for diverse learning needs
  4. School guidance and counselling
  5. Aural Rehabilitation

External Appointments
  1. Honorary Advisor, Rehabilitation & Youth Services, Yan Chai Hospital (2004 – now)
  2. Guest Speaker, The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong (2007 – now)
  3. Clinical Consultant, K.C. Liang Po Lam Early Education and Training Service of Haven of Hope Christian Service (2005-2006, 2013 - now)
  4. Clinical Consultant, Po Leung Kuk Child Care Services (2014 – now)
  5. Clinical Consultant, YWCA Wong Chuen King Student Development Centre (2016 – 2018)
  6. Clinical Consultant, Haven of Hope Sunnyside Enabling Centre, Haven of Hope Christian Service (2013 – 2018)
  7. Academic Member, Expert Panel of the Hong Kong Association of Speech Therapists (2013 - 2016)

Research Outputs
Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters
Chapter in an edited book (author)
Lau, Suk Han Polly (2022). Speech, language and communication disorders. M. T. Hue, & S. Karim, Supporting diverse students in Asian inclusive classrooms: From policies and theories to practice (90-107). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032021775


Projects
Self-regulated Learning in the Clinical Education of Language Sample Analysis in Speech-Language Pathology
Language assessment and intervention are fundamental service areas in speech-language pathology (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2016), with language sample analysis (LSA) recognized as the gold standard for evaluating functional language skills (Klatte et al., 2022). Speech-language pathologists utilize LSA to assess the strengths and needs of individuals with language disorders across various language domains, including vocabulary, morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. The insights gained from LSA inform clinical decisions on intervention and accommodations (Heilmann et al., 2020). While several sampling and analysis protocols have been developed to enhance the reliability and validity of LSA (Eisenberg & Guo, 2016; Heilmann, 2010; Heilmann et al., 2020; Rojas & Iglesias, 2010), recent national surveys indicate that only 67% to 72% of practicing speech-language pathologists utilize LSA in daily practices (Fulcher-Rood et al., 2018; Pavelko et al., 2016). A follow-up focus group study revealed that common barriers to the application of LSA in clinical practice include a lack of knowledge and skills, as well as negative perceptions of capabilities (Klatte et al., 2022). The proposed project aims to integrate a cyclical model of self-regulation to develop a self-regulated clinical education package that enhances students' self-regulatory competence in LSA for both English- and Cantonese-speaking populations (Moning & Roelle, 2021; Rapillard, Plexico & Plumb, 2019; Usher & Schunk, 2018). Self-regulation of learning (SRL) enables learners to assess their content knowledge and skills at different learning stages, strategically regulate their learning to achieve personal learning goals.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): LAU, Suk Han, Polly

 
The Development of e-Learning-based Clinical Education in Speech-language Pathology: A Pilot Project
There is an increasing expectations in students of digital generation on eLearning and an increasing trend to use technologies to facilitate personalized learning in higher education (O’Donoghue, 2010; Deng & Tavares, 2013). The proposed project follows these successful elements to develop a set of clinical eLearning resources, which will be used as a bridge between taught courses in classrooms and practicum courses in real life settings to support personalized learning for students of the Master Programme in Speech-language Pathology and Learning Disabilities (MScESLPLD).

The clinical eLearning resources include downloadable documents for clinical orientation, links to relevant resources and references provided in taught courses on EdUHK moodle platform (external evidence) to facilitate integration of knowledge, audio-video clips of a real clinical case with speech-language disorder (internal evidence) to facilitate application of knowledge into case-based practice, discussion forums to encourage online exchanges among students and clinical educators, and a set of hierarchical quiz questions to facilitate self-monitor of learning in students of MScESLPLD.

The effectiveness of the set of clinical eLearning resources will be evaluated with reference to the amount of usage of different resource components online by students, students’ performance in quizzes, ratings and comments given by students in an evaluation form before and after a taught course, and rating and comments given by students and clinical educators after a practicum course.
Project Start Year: 2018, Principal Investigator(s): LAU, Suk Han Polly 劉淑嫺

 
Intervention Efficacy of Assistive Listening Devices for Chinese Children with Dyslexia - A Randomized Controlled Trial (Health and Medical Research Fund, Food and Health Bureau, 2017-2020)
This project aims to investigate the efficacy in providing personal frequency modulation (FM) systems to children with dyslexia at school. 120 Cantonese-speaking primary school students who are being diagnosed as dyslexic will be recruited to join the study. Free FM systems will be provided to them for one academic year. The results of this rigorous randomized controlled trial will provide strong evidence that supports clinical-decision-making in the provision of appropriate and cost-effective interventions for children with dyslexia. The information will also be useful for future health policy making related to the provision of remediation and support service to these children.
Project Start Year: 2017, Principal Investigator(s): KAM, Chi Shan 甘志珊 (LAU, Suk Han Polly 劉淑嫺 as Co-Investigator)