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Staff Profile

Dr Vic Knowland

Lecturer in Speech & Language Sciences

  • Address: King George VI building
    Queen Victoria Road
    Newcastle
    NE1 4LF
Background


I am a Speech and Language Therapist and Lecturer in Speech and Language Sciences at Newcastle University. Clinically I work in a paediatric community team and specialise in working with children who have hearing impairment and children with cleft palate. My teaching at Newcastle reflects my clinical interests, covering speech sound disorders, research methods and clinical practice.


I came to Newcastle after working in the Sleep, Language and Memory Lab at the University of York, and the Centre for Language and Communication Science Research at City University London. I was lucky enough to complete my PhD in audio-visual speech perception at Birkbeck under Professors Michael Thomas and Annette Karmiloff-Smith. 


Roles and responsibilities

Member of Child Language Research Group

Action editor for Language Development Review

AdvanceHE fellow

Admissions Tutor for the MSc in Language Pathology at Newcastle

 

Qualifications

BA In Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, 2004

MSc in Speech and Language Sciences from UCL, 2008

PhD in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience from Birkbeck, 2012

 

Memberships

Registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council

Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

Teaching

My teaching at Newcastle covers case-based problem solving and research methods in practice. I act as a Practice Educator for our in-house paediatric Speech and Langauge Therapy clinic, and I supervise experimental and clinical dissertations at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I am also a personal tutor, providing pastoral care and academic guidance.


My office hours are 10-11 Tuesday. I'm also available throughout the week by appointment. 



Research

My research interests lie in understating some of the variability seen in speech and language development over childhood, and exploring new avenues for supporting children’s speech and language. Currently I work on the relationship between sleep and language development, and how visual information can support speech and language development, both through cues from the talking face, and the use of manual signs and gesture. 


Current PhD supervision

Johanna Butler

Han Grimes


I would be delighted to hear from you if you are interested in studying for a PhD in sleep and language, audio-visual speech perception, sign systems such as Makaton, speech sound disorders or hearing impairment. 

Publications

  • Articles

    • Rogers CJ, Knowland VCP, Vitikainen A, Gondwe P, Thomas MSC. The application of a Mind, Brain and Education approach to the Literacy for Women in Africa programme & recommendations for practitioners. International Review of Education 2025, epub ahead of print.
    • Henderson,L-M,Olsson,A,Walker,S,Knowland,VCP,vanRijn,E,Oliveira,C,Cairney,SA,Gaskell,MG. Short-term sleep extension in adolescents. 2022.
    • Knowland VCP, Rauni M, Gaskell M-G, Walker SA, Norbury C, Henderson L-M. Sleep behaviour in children with developmental language impairments. Language Development Research 2021, 1(1), 283-318.
    • Gini S, Knowland VCP, Thomas MSC, Van Herwegen J. Neuromyths about neurodevelopmental disorders: Misconceptions by educators and the general public. Mind, Brain & Education 2021, 15(4), 289-298.
    • Fletcher FE, Knowland V, Walker S, Gaskell MG, Norbury C, Henderson LM. Atypicalities in sleep and semantic consolidation in autism. Developmental Science 2020, 23(3), -.
    • Thomas,MSC,Davis,R,Karmiloff-Smith,A,Knowland,VCP,Charman,T. The over-pruning hypothesis of autism. Developmental Science 2016, 19(2), 284-305.
    • Thomas,MSC,Knowland,VCP. Modelling mechanisms of persisting and resolving delay in language development. The Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 2014, 57(2), 467-483. In Preparation.
    • Knowland,VCP,Mercure,E,Karmiloff-Smith,A,Dick,F,Thomas,MSC. Audio- visual speech perception: A developmental ERP investigation. Developmental Science 2014, 17(1), 110-124.
    • Thomas,MSC,Knowland,VCP,Karmiloff-Smith,A. Mechanisms of developmental regression in autism and the broader phenotype: a neural network modelling approach. Psychological Review 2011, 118(4), 637-654.

  • Book Chapters

    • Knowland,VCP. Educational Neuroscience: Ethical Perspectives. In: Thomas,MSC;Mareschal,D;Dumontheil,I, ed. Educational Neuroscience: Development Across the Life Span. London, UK: Routledge, 2020.
    • Knowland,VCP,Botting,N. Different profiles of development: evidence from children with primary language impairment. In: J. Van Herwegen and D. Riby, ed. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Research Challenges and Solutions. London & New York: Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.

  • Edited Book

    • Mareschal,D,Thomas,MSC,Knowland,VCP, ed. Taking development seriously: Neuroconstructivism and the multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the emergence of mind. A Festschrift for Annette Karmiloff-Smith.. London, UK: Routledge, 2021.

  • Reports

  • Reviews

    • Knowland,VCP,Thomas,MSC. Neuromyths in the classroom. Frontiers for Young Minds 2020, 8, 49.
    • Thomas MSC, Ansari D, Knowland VCP. Annual Research Review: Educational neuroscience: progress and prospects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 2019, 60(4), 477-492.
    • Thomas,MSC,Knowland,VCP,Rogers,C. The Science of Adult Literacy. 2019.
    • Knowland,VCP,Thomas,MSC. Developmental trajectories in genetic disorders. International Review of Research on Developmental Disabilities 2011, 40, 43- 73.
    • Thomas,MSC,Knowland,VCP. Sensitive periods in brain development: Implications for education policy. European Psychiatric Review 2009, 2(1), 17-20.