Speech and Hearing Processes (Minor)

Western Michigan University's undergraduate minor in speech and hearing processes requires a minimum of 15 credit hours and may be of particular interest if you are majoring in something related, like biology, chemistry, communication arts and sciences, engineering, linguistics, music therapy, vocal music, occupational therapy, nursing, psychology and social work.

If you are in a pre-professional program like pre-dentistry or pre-medicine, you may find benefit in studying human communication science and disorders - especially the study of anatomic, physiologic, neurologic, psycho-social and physical bases of speech, language and hearing.

The Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences offers three emphasis options for the undergraduate minor in speech and hearing processes. You can meet with the undergraduate advisor to design a minor that emphasizes one of these three options:

  • Speech-language-hearing science
  • Audition and hearing impairment
  • Human communication disorders

The minor can also be tailored to you educational needs and goals if you are considering graduate study in audiology or speech-language pathology.

All options of the undergraduate minor require 10 hours of observation of speech, language and hearing therapy in the Van Riper Language, Speech, and Hearing Clinic. This will provide you with exposure to clinical aspects of the fields of speech-language pathology and audiology.

Advising

Because departmental offerings are sequential and offered once per year, advising is critical for students who are interested in pursuing this minor.

For additional information about the undergraduate minor in speech and hearing processes or for an advising appointment, contact Jill Hamilton, undergraduate advisor for speech pathology and audiology.

Sample course sequences

  • Speech-language-hearing science
    • 2000: Communication Disorders and Sciences (three credits, fall or spring)
    • 2030: Normal Language Acquisition (three credits, fall)
    • 2040: Phonetics (three credits, fall)
    • 2041: Phonetics Lab (one credit, fall)
    • 2050: Speech Anatomy and Phys (three credits, spring)
    • 2060: Hearing Science (3 credits, spring)
    • 4030: Speech Science (three credits, fall)
  • Audition and hearing impairment
    • SIGN 1010, 1020 or 2010: American Sign Language (three credits, fall)
    • 2000: Communications Disorders and Sciences (three credits, fall or spring)
    • 2060: Hearing Science (three credits, spring)
    • 2080: Introduction to Audiology (three credits, fall)
    • One of the following:
      • 4560: Rehabilitative Audiology (three credits, spring)
      • 5801: Pediatric Audiology (three credits, spring)
      • 5800: Psychoacoustics (three credits, fall)
  • Human communication disorders
    • 2000: Communication Disorders and Sciences (three credits, fall or spring)
    • 2030: Normal Language Acquisition (three credits, fall)
    • 2040: Phonetics (three credits, fall)
    • 2041: Phonetics Lab (one credit, fall)
    • 2080: Introduction to Audiology (three credits, fall)
    • 3510: Phonemic Disorders (two credits, spring)
    • 3540: Language Disorders Child (three credits, spring)
    • 4590: Special Studies in Speech Pathology and Audiology (three credits, fall or spring)
    • 5530: Fluency Disorders (spring)