Newcastle University

Background

I qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1996. My PhD focused on the analysis of semantic and syntactic deficits in aphasia and was supervised by Sue Franklin and David Howard. As a speech and language therapist, I worked with clients with aphasia in a stroke rehabilitation unit and in a community setting. I continue my clinical work within the North East Aphasia Centre.

Roles and Responsibilities

Director of Clinical Education

Memberships

Treasurer of the British Aphasiology Society

Research Interests

My main research interest is assessment and therapy for people with aphasia. Recent research has focused on the development of clinical assessments for investigating difficulties with verb retrieval, sentence production and sentence comprehension. I have carried out a number of single case therapy studies to investigate the impact of therapy targeting these difficulties. A series of therapy resources for clinical use have just been published.

Projects

• Aphasia Research Clinic
  Project Leader(s): Prof. David Howard Dr Sue Franklin
• Developing Aphasia Therapy Resources
  Project Leader(s): Dr Julie Morris and Dr Janet Webster

Undergraduate Teaching

PSSP Cases: Adult Semantics
Adult Literacy
Supervision of clinical practice in the aphasia clinic
Module leader for all clinical practice modules

Postgraduate Teaching

PSSP Cases: Adult Semantics
Adult Literacy
Supervision of clinical practice in the aphasia clinic
Module leader for all clincial practice modules
Module leader for Extended Case

• Webster J, Howard D. Assessment of agrammatic language. In: Bastiannse, R; Thompson, CK, ed. Perspectives on Agrammatism. London: Psychology Press, 2012.
• Plant C, Webster J, Whitworth A. Category norm data and relationships with lexical frequency and typicality within verb semantic categories. Behavior Research Methods 2011, 43(2), 424-440.
• Webster JM, Gordon B. Contrasting therapy effects for verb and sentence processing difficulties: A discussion of what worked and why. Aphasiology 2009, 23(10), 1231-1251.
• Morris J, Webster J, Whitworth A, Howard D. Newcastle University Aphasia Therapy Resources: Auditory Processing. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2009.
• Webster J, Morris J, Whitworth A, Howard D. Newcastle University Aphasia Therapy Resources: Sentence Processing. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2009.
• Morris J, Webster J, Whitworth A, Howard D. Newcastle University Aphasia Therapy Resources: Written Comprehension. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2009.
• Webster J, Whitworth A. AL: Accessing the predicate argument structure. In: Byng, S; Pound, C; Duchan, JF, ed. The Aphasia Therapy File. Hove East Sussex: Psychology Press, 2007, pp. 219-230.
• Webster J, Franklin S, Howard D. An analysis of thematic and phrasal structure in people with aphasia: What more can we learn from the story of Cinderella?. Journal of Neurolinguistics 2007, 20(5), 363-394.
• Whitworth AB, Webster J, Howard D. A Cognitive Neuropsychological Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Aphasia: A Clinician's Guide. Hove: Psychology Press, 2005.
• Webster J, Morris J, Franklin S. Effects of therapy targeted at verb retrieval and the realisation of the predicate argument structure: A case study. Aphasiology 2005, 19(8), 748-764.
• Webster J, Franklin S, Howard D. Investigating the sub-processes involved in the production of thematic structure: An analysis of four people with aphasia. Aphasiology 2004, 18(1), 47-68.
• Webster J, Franklin S, Howard D. An investigation of the interaction between thematic and phrasal structure in nonfluent agrammatic subjects. Brain and Language 2001, 78(2), 197-211.
• Webster J, Whitworth A. Treating verbs in aphasia: Exploring the impact of therapy at the single word and sentence levels. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 2012. In Press.