TARA WHITEHILL . B.A. (Oberlin Coll.); M.Sc. (Columbia); Ph.D. (HKU).

Tara Whitehill received her Masters degree in speech-language pathology at Teachers College (Columbia University) and her PhD at the University of Hong Kong. She joined the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Hong Kong at the time of its foundation in 1988. Professor Whitehill is a former Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education and a former Head of the Division. She is the Director of the Motor Speech Research Laboratory. Motor Speech Laboratory

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Research Interests

Professor Whitehill’s research focuses on organic speech disorders including dysarthria, cleft palate and oral cancer. The themes of her research programme include: Determining contributors to severity judgements of disordered speech; ensuring the validity and reliability of outcome measures; determining the relationship between perceptual and instrumental measures of disordered speech; and determining language-specific versus language-universal contributors to disordered speech.

Professor Whitehill is also engaged in research relating to the education of speech-langauge pathologists, with particular interest in problem-based learning (PBL) and clinical education.

Recent Publications

Lee, A., & Whitehill, T. L. (accepted) Resonance disorders. In E. Ma & E. Yiu (Eds.), Clinical management of voice disorders.

Whitehill, T. L., Goetzee, C, & Hodge, M. Intelligibility(accepted). In A. Lohmander and S. Howard (Eds.), Cleft palate speech: Assessment, analysis and intervention. Wiley Publishers. Invited.

Whitehill, T. L., Ma, E. P-M., & Tse, F. C-M (in press). Environmental barriers to communication for individuals with dysarthria. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology [to appear December 2010]

Whitehill, T.L., Yu, K., Kwan, L., & Ho, D. W-L. (in press) Piloting a reflective week in clinical practice. In L. McAllister, M. Paterson, J. Higgs & C. Bithel (Eds.),  Innovations in allied health fieldwork education: A critical appraisal.

Xue, S. A., Lam, C. W-Y., Whitehill, T. L., & Samman, N. (2010)Effects of Class III malocclusion on young adults' vocal tract development: A pilot study. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.  [online version available]

Ma, J. K.-Y., Whitehill, T. L., & So, S. Y.-S. (2010) Intonation contrast in Cantonese speakers with hypokinetic dysarthria associated with Parkinson’s Disease. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53, 836-849.

Chua, H. D. P., Whitehill, T. L., Samman, N., & Cheung, L. (2010) Cleft maxillary distraction versus orthognathic surgery:  Effects on speech and velopharyngeal function. International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 37 (7), 633-640. [Note: Selected as “Leading Clinical Paper” for the issue]

Whitehill, T. L. (2010) Studies of Chinese speakers with dysarthria: Informing theoretical models. Folio Phoniatrica et Logopedica, 62, 92-96. [Special issue on Motor Speech Disorders]

Ma, J. K.-Y., Whitehill, T. L., & Cheung, K. S-K. (2010) Dysprosody and stimulus effects in Cantonese speakers with Parkinson’s disease. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders. [online version available]

Hodge, M. N., & Whitehill, T. L. (2010) Intelligibility impairments. In J. S. Damico, M. J. Ball, and N. Muller (Eds.), The handbook of language and speech disorders, pp. 99-114. Blackwell Publishers.

Mok. C. K. F., Dodd, B. J., & Whitehill, T. L. (2009) Speech-language pathology students’ approaches to learning in a problem-based learning curriculum. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11,472-481.

Ho, D. W-L., & Whitehill, T. L. (2009). Clinical supervision of speech pathology students: The effect of immediate verbal feedback versus delayed written feedback. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11 (3), 244-255.

Mok, C., Whitehill, T. L., & Dodd, B. ( 2008). The inter-relationship between problem-based learning, critical thinking and concept mapping in speech-language pathology education: A review. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10(6), 435-448.

Whitehill, T. L., Patel, R., & Lai, J. F-C. (2008). The use of prosody by children with severe dysarthria: A Cantonese extension study. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 293-299.

Whitehill, T. L. (2008). Spastic cerebral palsy. In M. R. McNeil (Ed.), Clinical management of sensorimotor speech disorders (2nd ed.) (pp. 390-392). New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Whitehill, T. L., & Lee, A. (2008). The instrumental analysis of resonance in speech impairment. In M. J. Ball, M. Perkins, N. Müller & S. Howard (Eds.), The handbook of clinical linguistics (pp. 332-343). Blackwell Publishers.

Henningsson, G., Kuehn, D. P., Sell, D., Sweeney, T., Trost-Cardamone, J. E., & Whitehill, T. L. (2008). Universal parameters for reporting speech outcomes in individuals with cleft palate. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. 45, 1-17.

Whitehill, T. L., & Wong, L-N. (2007). Effect of intensive voice treatment on tone language speakers with Parkinson’s disease. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 21, 919-925.

Whitehill, T. L. (2007). Left versus right: The site of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus makes a difference for specific speech measures in patients with Parkinson’s disease [Structured Abstract]. Evidence-based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 3, 109-110.

Chanchareonsook, N., Whitehill, T. L, & Samman, N. (2007). Speech outcome and velopharngeal function in cleft palate: Comparison of Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy and distraction osteogenesis – Early results. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 44, 23-32.

Whitehill, T. L., & Wong, C. C-Y. (2006). Contributing factors to listener effort for dysarthric speech. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 14, 335-341.

Ma, J. K-Y., Ciocca, V., & Whitehill, T. L. (2006). The effect of intonation on Cantonese lexical tones. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 120 (6), 3978-3987.

Chan, R. K. K., McPherson, B., & Whitehill, T. L. (2006). Chinese attitudes towards cleft lip and palate: Effects of personal contact. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 43, 731-739.

Chanchareonsook, N., Samman, N., & Whitehill, T. L. (2006). The effect of craniomaxillofacial osteotomies and distraction osteogenesis on speech and velopharyngeal status: A critical review. Cleft Palate-Craniofacia lJournal, 43, 477-487.

Whitehill, T. L., Ciocca, V., Chan J. C-T., & Samman, N. (2006). Acoustic analysis of vowels following glossectomy. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 20, 135-140.

Recent Research Projects
 

Auditory processing disorders in children with cleft lip/palate. Hong Kong Research Grants Council, General Research Fund (GRF).B. McPherson (Principal Investigator), L. Ma and T. L. Whitehill. 2009-2012.

The use of synthesized anchors and training for the perceptual evaluation of hypernasality. The University of Hong Kong. K. M-K. Chan (Principal Investigator). 2006- 07.

Distraction versus orthognathic surgery – which one is better for cleft palate patients? Hong Kong Research Grants Council. N. Samman (Principal Investigator). 2006-08

“Development of an Online Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Environment”. University of Hong Kong, Teaching Development Grant (TDG). L. Ng (PI), SP Law, TL Whitehill, S Bridges (Co-Is). Awarded September 2010.  HK$259,837.

“Enhancing evidence-based and competency-based assessment of clinical skills”. University of Hong Kong, Teaching Development Grant (TDG). T. Whitehill (PI), D. Ho, L. Kwan, K. Yu (Co-Is). Awarded June 2010.

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