Karen Pollock, PhD, CCC-SLP, R.SLP

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine - Communication Sciences & Disorders

Email: pollock@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492-7855
Address: 3-81 Corbett (E.A.) Hall
8205 - 114 St NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2G4

Overview

About

PhD - Speech-Language Pathology - Purdue University
MA - Speech-Language Pathology - University of Oregon
MA - Linguistics - University of Oregon
BA - Linguistics - University of Oregon

Registered Speech-Language Pathologist, Alberta College of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Dr. Pollock is the Director and Co-Founder of AAC Camp Alberta, an annual weekend family camp for children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and their families, offered through a partnership between the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and March of Dimes Canada.

Research

Dr. Pollock's current research interests include:

speech development in children learning a second language
speech-language acquisition in children adopted internationally (e.g., China, Haiti, and Ethiopia)
vowel errors produced by young children with and without speech sound disorders
outcomes for campers, parents, siblings, and counselors participating in AAC Camp Alberta

Teaching

Dr. Pollock teaches a graduate course in the MScSLP program on children's phonological (speech sound) development and disorders and an elective module for graduate students in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and physical therapy who participate in AAC Camp Alberta. She also supervises student research projects and theses in the masters and doctoral programs.

Courses

CSD 570 - Elective

A variety of topics will be offered. Students can register in this for credit toward the MScSLP requirement of 1 credit in elective coursework.

Summer Term 2024

Browse more courses taught by Karen Pollock

Scholarly Activities

Research - Speech Development in Bilingual School Children

2017 to 2023

This project explores the development of speech sounds (consonants, vowel, tones, stress patterns) in 150 children who are enrolled in Grades 1, 3, or 5 of a Mandarin-English bilingual elementary school program in Edmonton, Alberta. Using detailed phonetic transcription, acoustic analysis, and native listener perceptions, the project aims to profile the children's speech patterns and explore the role of experience (home language exposure; quantity and quality of input at school) on second language speech learning. The project is part of a larger project exploring speech development in children learning a minority language in Alberta, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), PI: Dr. Fangfang Li, University of Lethbridge. Co-Investigators: Dr. Karen Pollock, University of Alberta, Dr. Yvan Rose, Memorial University, and Dr. Andrea MacLeod, University of Alberta. Trainees: Youran Lin, MScSLP/PhD student.

Featured Publications

Vowel development and disorders

Pollock, K.E., & Stoel-Gammon, C. (in press)

In Nicole Müller, Martin J. Ball, & Liz Spencer (Eds.), Handbook of Clinical Linguistics (2nd Edition). Routledge. 2024 January;

A conceptual model of second language pronunciation in communicative contexts: Implications for children's bilingual education

Lin, Y., Li, F., MacLeod, A.A.N., & Pollock, K.E.

Frontiers in Psychology. 2023 June; 14 (1125157):1-12 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1125157