About us

The Faculty of Education

Head of the department: doc. Mgr. Svetlana Kapalková, PhD.

The department currently has 6 systematized positions (2 professors, 2 associate professors, 2 assistant professors), all of them are teaching staff.

The department of speech and language therapy at PdF UK in Bratislava was established in 1991 under the guidance of prof. PhDr. V. Lechta, PhD. Its first members were PaedDr. L. Alberty, PaedDr. Zs. Cséfalvay, PhDr. Ľ. Hozlárová, PhDr. A. Kerekrétiová, PhDr. M. Mikulajová, CSc., PaedDr. Z. Minarovjechová. In the winter semester of the academic year 1991/92, the department already had its first students in the field of speech and language therapy specializing in clinical speech and language therapy, and from the summer semester, students were accepted to specialize in school speech and language therapy, which was studied as a two-field study together with the Teaching of the 1st grade of primary school. At the same time as the department of speech and language therapy was established, a statute was drawn up for the Speech and Language Therapy Consulting room, which began its activities under the leadership of PhDr. A. Kerekrétiová. It served as a teaching base for students, and all members of the department implemented a speech and language therapy intervention here, focused on individual types of impaired communication skills, which they provided in the theoretical preparation of speech and language therapy students. From 2012 to August 2023, the department of Communication disorders was part of the Institute of Psychological and Speech Therapy Studies. Since September 2023, we are part of the Institute of Speech and Language Therapy and Therapeutic Education.

he department is currently responsible for the study field 21. Speech and language therapy and therapeutic education, study program Speech and Language therapy. The study is carried out in the form of full-time studies with a standard length of 5 years. The Master's study ends with the defense of the diploma thesis and the state final exam (Theory of Speech and Language Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy Diagnosis and Speech and Language Therapy). Upon successful completion of the studies, the graduate receives the title Mgr. The goal of the master's degree in speech and language therapy is to prepare university-educated speech and language therapists with the ability to work in the health, education, labor and social affairs sectors, as well as in the non-state sector.

Doctoral studies have a full-time (4 years) and part-time (5 years) form. A graduate of a credit doctoral study will receive a PhD after successfully defending his or her dissertation. Doctoral study prepares graduates of the third level of university studies for independent, creative scientific work. The student acquires knowledge based on current scientific knowledge and contributes to the development of knowledge in the field of speech and language therapy.

The model of our undergraduate study and the subsequent doctoral study is highly rated by the Permanent Commission of Speech and Language Therapists in the EU (CPLOL) as optimal and is comparable to recognized world study programs in speech and language therapy. The Department of Communication Disorders has the right to carry out the habilitation procedure and the appointment procedure for professors without limitation.

The department has the right to conduct rigorous examinations in the field of speech and language therapy (PhDr.). The department also provides speech and language therapy teaching to all other students of PdF UK according to their study program. The Department of Communication Disorders is the only workplace with such a focus in Slovakia, but one of a few also in the Central European region. In 2003 and 2006, it was by the rector of the University of Bratislava and by decision of the scientific council of the University included among the leading scientific workplaces of the Comenius University.

The commission, whose current composition is listed in the file Commission, is responsible for creating study program of Speech and Language Therapy. As a condition of admission to the combined B.C. and Mgr. the degree of study is obtaining a complete high school education and successfully passing admission interviews. The goal is to ensure that applicants with the necessary skills and prerequisites for successful completion and practicing the profession of a speech and language therapist are admitted to the course. A student of the Speech and Language Therapy study program in a combined bachelor's and master's degree acquires theoretical knowledge, practical abilities and skills, as well as additional knowledge, abilities and skills. These are in accordance with the accredited field of study Speech and Language Therapy and with the definition of knowledge for the combined 1st and 2nd degree of university studies, which is realized only in the full-time form of study.

Teaching is carried out by credit course method. The study program is designed into five units, forming its starting structure: general foundation, basic speech and language therapy disciplines, special speech and language therapy disciplines, speech and language therapy supportive disciplines and speech and language therapy practice. Basic speech and language therapy disciplines (Introduction to speech and language therapy, Speech and language therapy propaedeutics, Speech and language development) form the main topics of the knowledge core. Furthermore, there are special speech and language therapy disciplines (Speech sound disorder, Developmental language disorder, Voice disorders, Cleft palate speech, Speech fluency disorders, Dyslexia, Aphasia, Dysarthria, Symptomatic speech disorders...). The courses are divided into compulsory (200 credits + diploma thesis 10 credits), compulsory optional/selective (90 credits), total 300 credits.

By choosing mandatory optional and optional subjects, a student can specialize in a certain field of practice. The study program is designed in accordance with the requirements of higher education institutions in Europe and in accordance with the Bologna criteria, which enables student mobility. Theoretical teaching is carried out in the form of courses in the scope of one semester. Each teaching unit from special speech and language therapy disciplines is followed by ongoing and continuous speech and language therapy practice and a case study seminar, within which students can acquire specific and relevant knowledge and skills for speech therapy practice. Practical training is carried out in training schools and facilities.

The department's scientific and research activities are also carried out here. Acquired knowledge is assessed both through continuous control of written and final tests, but also in the form of presentation and defense of semester papers with the requirement to use domestic and foreign literature. This creates the possibility of a comprehensive assessment of students from several aspects: theoretical knowledge verified by tests, the ability to acquire and process information from professional literature and to be able to apply it directly in theory and in practice are evaluated throughout the entire educational process, but also during state exams and the defense of a diploma thesis.

Council of the study field Speech and Language Therapy:

Prof. Cséfalvay

Doc. Kapalková

Doc. Marková

Doc. Buntová

Dr. Zubáková

Minutes of the Council of the study field Speech and Language Therapy: 

RŠO_Logopédia_Záapisnica_21.2.2024

Feedback_to_study_Students:  RŠO_Spätná_väzba_na_štúdium_Študenti

Speech and language therapy intervention (prevention, diagnosis, therapy and counseling) is focused on the broad issue of language/speech, impaired communication skills in healthy and at-risk and disabled populations of all age categories. The study program of the Speech and Language Therapy corresponds to this broad focus and prepares speech and language therapy graduates who meet the requirements of the current labor market. This is also possible thanks to the number of high-quality elective and compulsory elective courses that the department of communication disorders offers and provides for its students. Subjects of departments participating in transdisciplinary intervention of persons with impaired communication skills contribute significantly to the required flexibility of speech and language therapy graduates in the labor market (department of health, education, labor and social affairs as well as the private sector). The study field of speech and language therapy prepares experts who are able to implement complex speech and language therapy care, to apply methods and means of modern speech and language therapy comparable to foreign countries in speech and language therapy intervention.

The speech and language therapist applies:

• in the health resort: in speech and language therapy clinics, in hospitals, in clinics and departments of ENT, phoniatrics, neurology, rehabilitation and physiatry, plastic surgery, geriatrics, psychiatry, in hospitals for the long-term sick, in sanatoriums and rehabilitation institutes, as well as in non-state clinics of clinical speech and language therapy, other speech and language therapy facilities, etc.; 
• in the Ministry of Education: as a speech and language therapist - professional employee in Counseling and Prevention Centers (CPP), in Specialized Counseling and Prevention Centers (ŠCPP). As a school speech therapist - professional employee in special kindergartens, special elementary schools, in schools for students with impaired communication skills, in elementary schools as a member of the support team;
• in the Department of Labor and Social Affairs: as a speech and language therapist in Early Intervention Centers (CVI) and according to the needs and requirements of social service centers within their speech and language therapy care;
• in private and other facilities that provide speech and language therapy care.

Since the study program of Speech and Language Therapy in all three levels of higher education is in accordance with the Bologna Declaration, this enables not only the mobility of students during their studies, but also their wide application on the foreign labor market not only in Europe but also elsewhere abroad.

At the Department of Communication disorders of PdF UK, out of 6 creative workers, there is currently one full professor, two associate professors, one of whom holds the position of professor, three assistant professors with a PhD, one of whom holds the position of associate professor. In the place of lecturers, there are three part-time experts from practice with a PhD degree.

Renowned speech and language therapists work at the department, who are among the leading scientific and professional authorities in speech therapy in Slovakia and abroad. The scientific research activity of KL PdF UK is continuous. Its members deal with foreign and domestic grants, the results of which are accepted not only at home but also abroad. They are focused and map the scientific-research profile of individual creative members of the department, also their specific focus in the study program, as well as clinical orientation. It is only natural that individual teachers currently include the results of scientific research in the teaching of the courses they are implementing. In this way, the permanent implementation of the latest scientific, methodological and methodical knowledge in the pedagogical process and the close connection of the scientific and pedagogical activities of the department are guaranteed. Students actively participate in the solution of research tasks in the form of semester theses, diploma and doctoral theses and thus acquire the latest theoretical knowledge and creatively implement it into speech and language therapy theory and practice.

Area of ​​research and scientific research:

• analysis of spontaneous speech of aphatics,
• analysis of spontaneous speech in neurodegenerative diseases,
• specifics of conversation in aphasia therapy,
• neurolinguistic research of speech in Slovak-speaking patients,
• speech therapy diagnosis and therapy of primary progressive aphasia,
• prevention of voice disorders,
• speech and language therapy intervention in velopharyngeal dysfunction
• longitudinal monitoring of the development of gestures,
• mapping of phonological processes in Slovak-speaking children,
• mapping developmental discontinuities in Slovak-speaking children,
• the relationship between developmental disorders of spoken and written language,
• early speech development in children with cleft lip and palate,
• mapping language deficits in dementia and mild cognitive impairment,
• diagnosis of language processes of the right cerebral hemisphere,
• speech intelligibility,
• diagnostics of the phonetic-phonological level,
• therapy of phonological disorders and VVD.

• stuttering,
• aphasia and primary progressive aphasia,
• dementia,
• voice disorders,
• dysphagia,
• cleft palate speech,
• child speech and language development,
• impaired speech development,
• developmental language disorder,
• dyslexia,
• speech sound disorders in children.

• phonographorhythmics for people with stuttering,
• phonological awareness training according to Elkonin,
• preventive and educational program of vocal hygiene,
• etiological approach in the intervention of velopharyngeal dysfunction,
• training of communication strategies in the framework of early intervention,
• cognitive-neuropsychological approach to the diagnosis and therapy of aphasia,
• conversation analysis in patients with aphasia,
• Assessment of the quality of life of persons with aphasia (AIQ21sk),
• Diagnosis and therapy of primary progressive aphasia (MLSE), 
• Adaptation of Yuruss and Reardom-Reevs´ therapy for children with incipient stuttering,
• Spontaneous speech analysis and application in patients with neurogenic communication disorders,
• Evaluation of language processes of the subdominant hemisphere,
• adaptation of phonological therapies to Slovak conditions: StiFoR, Metaphon, PACT, Minimal pairs therapy.
• Therapy for CAS - adaptation of Nuffiled's principles, DTTC, ReST.