The Global TALES Network Symposium was held September 11, 2025 in Edmonton, Canada and live online.

Did you miss out? Recordings of all the talks are available!

Please fill out this form for access to the recordings.

Follow us! 

@GlobalTALES-network on YouTube

@Global_TALES_Network on Instagram

Welcome from the Organizing Committee

Welcome to the 2025 Global TALES Network Symposium: Advancing global knowledge in personal narratives to bridge the research-to-practice gap in speech-language pathology! We are thrilled to host this international gathering, welcoming world leaders in child language to share their expertise on personal narratives in both research and clinical practice. Your presence makes this a truly diverse and rich event, bringing together clinicians, students, and researchers from across the globe. We are so grateful for your interest, enthusiasm, and commitment to advancing our collective knowledge.

The Global TALES Network Symposium features 20 oral presentations, including three keynote presentations and panel discussions, in addition to 10 e-posters available online on the symposium website. In total, we are honoured to have 54 contributors representing 12 countries, each contributing unique perspectives and insights. Together, these sessions highlight innovative approaches to personal narrative research and translation into practice, while fostering dialogue across disciplines and contexts. We are also delighted to welcome clinicians, students, and researchers attending the symposium from over 35 countries, underscoring the global relevance and reach of this work.

We look forward to the stimulating discussions, new collaborations, and lasting connections that will emerge from this symposium. Thank you for being part of this global effort to bridge research and practice in speech-language pathology.

With thanks,

The Organizing Committee

Welcome from the University of Alberta

On behalf of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Alberta, we welcome you to the 2025 Global TALES Network Symposium. If you are here with us in Edmonton or joining us virtually for this event, it is because you are a researcher, clinician or trainee who recognizes the importance of personal narratives in the assessment of children’s language. It is exciting to see the growing community of speech-language pathologists who are interested in embedding personal narratives into their clinical practice. This recognition by the clinical community of the utility of personal narratives will help meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse children, for whom authentic, functional, language assessments are often lacking. This symposium will provide an opportunity to learn from renowned international experts leading research around the world, and also to dialogue with colleagues. We hope you enjoy the symposium and gain new insights and connections. Thank you for joining us at the 2025 Global TALES Network Symposium and for advancing this important work in child language. 

The Global TALES Network Symposium is an international hybrid symposium that aims to connect: 

(1) established international experts involved in the Global TALES Network, who will be presenting a keynote; 

(2) event presenters consisting of PhD students, emerging, and established scholars who will share current and ongoing research using personal narratives and/or Global TALES; and 

(3) speech-language pathologists from around the world interested in embedding personal narrative assessment in their clinical practice to better serve culturally and linguistically diverse children. 

The symposium is free for presenters and registered attendees and will lay the foundation for future international collaborations among researchers and speech-language pathologists to accelerate translation of research into practice. In addition, the symposium will provide an opportunity for child language researchers and graduate students to connect, network, and share their current research.