B. May Bernhardt

Professor

Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 1990
Clinical speech-language pathologist since 1972

Contact

Phone: (604) 822-2319
Fax: (604) 822-6569
E-mail: may.bernhardt@audiospeech.ubc.ca

Profile

May Bernhardt researches and teaches in the areas of speech and language development, impairments and intervention. Relevant background to those pursuits includes university training, professorial employment, and most importantly, many years as a mother and aunt. She is also a certified speech-language pathologist with ‘outside’ interests of yoga, outdoor recreation, music and theatre. For research, she collaborates with (a) faculty in Linguistics, Psychology and Educational Psychology and Special Education at UBC and elsewhere, (b) with other speech-language pathology researchers in Canada, the US, Australia, Europe and Asia and (c) with faculty and community educators in Aboriginal studies.

Research Interests

Major areas of research are in phonological and phonetic development, assessment and intervention. Other interests include general language impairment in children and implications of First Nations English dialects for speech-language pathology.

Current interests:

1. Nonlinear phonological assessment and intervention in English: Beginning with the dissertation, I have been conducting phonological intervention research studies with clinicians in BC, utilizing current nonlinear phonological analysis methods. The intervention focuses treatment on different levels of the phonological system, and gives equal weight to syllable and word structure development on the one hand, and feature and phoneme (segment) development on the other hand. Currently, a study is being conducted with doctoral student Glenda Mason on typical children’s pronunciation of multisyllabic words at age 5-6 (Hampton funded).

2. Nonlinear phonological assessment in languages other than English: An international, 2009 SSHRC-funded, cross-linguistic study with 11 languages is characterizing protracted phonological development across languages.

3. Early prediction of language impairment: joint with Dr. Janet Werker (Psychology), Dr. Linda Siegel of Educational Psychology and Special Education and Dr. Carolyn Johnson. NSERC Collaborative Health Research Grant and Ministry of Children and Family Development funding. Word learning tasks in infancy are being evaluated as predictors of later language skills at age 3, 4 and 6 for 80 children.

4 . Articulatory visual feedback with ultrasound and electropalatrography. Student thesis projects (including the dissertation of Penelope Bacsfalvi) and several collaborative studies, including one with SLPs in rural BC and one with the Down Syndrome Research Foundation. Funding by UBC Hampton, BC Medical Services Foundation Ministry of Children and Family Development and Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Investigations have centered on the relative effectiveness of computerized visual feedback (ultrasound, electropalatography) in speech habilitation. A study is planned for accent reduction and another with children younger than 5.

5 . First Nations English Dialects : Implications for speech-language pathologists. Funding by Ministry of Children and Family Development. The exploratory work was conducted with Dr. Jessica Ball, University of Victoria, Child and Youth Care. Forums and literature reviews have provided a foundation for future data collection and curriculum development. A course is now being implemented called “Approaches to Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology for Aboriginal People in Canada’” with support of a UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement grant.

Select Publications

BOOKS

Bernhardt, B.H. & Stemberger, J.P. (2000). Workbook in nonlinear phonology for clinical application. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Bernhardt, B.H. & Stemberger, J.P. (1998). Handbook of phonological development. From a nonlinear constraints-based perspective. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Ball, J. & Bernhardt, B.M. 2008. First Nations English dialects in Canada: Implications for speech-language pathology. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22(8), 570-588.

Bernhardt, B.M., Bacsfalvi, P., Adler-Bock, M., Shimizu, R., Cheney, A., Giesbrecht, N., O’Connell, M., Sirianni, J. & Radanov, B. 2008. Ultrasound as visual feedback in speech therapy: Exploring consultative use in rural British Columbia. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22(2), 149-162.

Adler-Bock, M., Bernhardt, B., Gick, B., & Bacsfalvi, P. 2007. The use of ultrasound in remediation of /r/ in adolescents. Amer. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16(2), 128-139.

Bernhardt, B.M, Kemp, N. & Werker, J. 2007.  Early word-object associations and later language development First Language, 27, 315-328.

Bernhardt, B., Stemberger, J., & Major, E. 2006. General and nonlinear phonological intervention perspectives for a child with a resistant phonological impairment. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology, 8, 190-206.

Bernhardt, B., Bacsfalvi, P., Gick, B., Radanov, B., & Williams, R. 2005. Exploring electropalatography and ultrasound in speech habilitation. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 29, 169-182.

Bernhardt, B., Gick, B., Bacsfalvi, P., & Adler-Bock, M. 2005. Ultrasound in speech therapy with adolescents and adults. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 19, 605-617.

Masterson, J. & Bernhardt, B. & Hofheinz, M. 2005. A comparison of single words and conversational speech in phonological evaluation. Amer. Jnl. of Speech-Language Pathology, 14, 229-241.

Bernhardt, B. & Major, E. 2005. Speech, language and literacy skills three years later: Long-term outcomes of nonlinear phonological intervention. Intl. Jnl. of Language and Communication Disorders, 40, 1-27.

Bernhardt, B. Gick, B., Bacsfalvi, P. & Ashdown, J. 2003. Speech habilitation of hard of hearing adolescents using electropalatography and ultrasound as evaluated by trained listeners. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 17, 3, 199-216.

Bernhardt, B.G. & Stemberger, J.P. 2002. Intervocalic consonants in the speech of children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 16(3), 199-214.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Bernhardt, B. & Deby, J. 2007. Canadian English speech acquisition. In S. McLeod (ed.) The international guide to speech acquisition. (pp. 177-187). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Thomson.

Bernhardt, B., Ball, J. & Deby, J. 2007. Cross-cultural perspectives and children’s speech acquisition. In S. McLeod (ed.) The international guide to speech acquisition. (pp. 101-106). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Thomson.

Bernhardt, B. & Stemberger, J.P. 2007. Phonological impairment. In P. Lacy (ed.) Handbook of Phonology. (pp. 575-593.) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Teaching

AUDI 520 – Phonological development, assessment and intervention
AUDI 522 – Introduction to Communication Disorders (for Audiology students)
AUDI 570 – Case studies in phonological intervention
AUDI 583 (20%) – Advanced Speech Science
AUDI 670: Doctoral seminar on phonological development
AUDI 547C – Approaches to Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology for people of First Nations, Inuit and Metis descent in Canada