Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Speech-Language Therapy Education through COIL Initiatives
“How is a child with articulation difficulties identified and referred to a speech therapist in your country?” Questions like this have ignited transformative cross-cultural dialogues among future speech-language therapists through our COIL initiative.
Program Overview and Activities
Since 2021, the Master of Science in Educational Speech-Language Pathology and Learning Disabilities (MScESLPLD) has spearheaded four annual COIL projects, engaging 420 students and faculty from European institutions, including Fontys University, Hanze University (Netherlands), and Karolinska Institute (Sweden). Under the leadership of Dr Kevin Yuen and Dr Lorinda Kwan-Chen, our students collaborated with international peers in structured, high-intensity online exchanges. Each September, students participated in an opening ceremony, followed by forming small cross-cultural groups of 10 students to tackle clinical questions (e.g., referral protocols, cultural impacts on therapy). After three weeks of research and collaboration, the teams met again to present their findings, fostering knowledge exchanges on global practices in speech-language therapy.
Objectives and Outcomes
The initiative aimed to cultivate creativity, problem-solving, communication, and global competence in multilingual contexts. Post-project surveys (405 respondents) revealed significant success:
- All students reported skill development, with average scores highlighting enhanced communication (7.4/10) and global perspectives (7.4/10).
- Creativity and problem-solving scored 6.5/10, while students’ enjoyment of the experience averaged 6.9/10.
Student Feedback
- COIL 2021 Participant: “It was very informative to learn from other universities, and it was a nice chance to discuss different ways of speech and language therapy.”
- COIL 2022 Participant: “I like learning from each other’s countries, teamwork and skills to eliminate cultural conflicts.”
- COIL 2023 Participant: “Cultural differences do impact how the policies are set. It was surprising to find that an official medical diagnosis is not required for receiving educational support in Sweden.”
- COIL 2024 Participant: “We are more similar than we are different, we can learn from each other.”
Conclusion
COIL has proven instrumental in preparing culturally agile speech therapists for Hong Kong’s multilingual community. The program’s success—rooted in rigorous collaboration and global dialogue—underscores the value of international partnerships. We recommend expanding COIL’s scope to deepen our students’ readiness for global healthcare challenges.
Acknowledgement
Source: Dr Lorinda Kwan-Chen; Department of Special Education and Counselling (SEC@EdUHK)
