Dr. Rebecca M. Throneburg
Introduction Education & Training Publications Frequently Taught Courses Research & Creative Interests

Dr. Rebecca M. Throneburg

Department Chair, Professor Office: 2213 - Human Services
Phone: 217-581-7447
Email: rmthroneburg@eiu.edu

INTRODUCTION

Dr Throneburg is currently the Department Chair of Communication Disorder and Sciences.   She joined the faculty at EIU in the fall of 1995 as an instructor.  She helped establish the departmental honor's program in CDS and then served as the departmental honor's coordinator for 10 years.  She also helped establish  EIU's first hybrid master's degree program and served as the departmental graduate coordinator for the traditional and hybrid master's degree programs.  She has taught many different courses in the CDS department, some of which include the graduate research methods and graduate research experience courses, a graduate course in motor speech disorders, a graduate course in pediatric speech sound disorders, a graduate course in stuttering, undergraduate courses in normal language acquisition, phonology disorders, departmental honor's seminar, aural rehabilitation, and four graduate special topic or seminar courses in literacy and phonological awareness.   She also regularly provided clinical instruction and supervision to graduate and undergraduate students treating clients in the EIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.

As department chair, Dr. Throneburg worked with members of CDS faculty associated with the Autism Center to obtain regular grant funding from The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP). She and other CDS faculty also developed collaboration with faculty at the University of West Indies and SLPs in Trinidad to help them build capacity to offer more services and to give EIU students therapy abroad opportunities.

Dr Throneburg enjoys mentoring students in research at EIU. She has directed or co-directed more than 40 undergraduate honor's and master's theses and has mentored hundreds of clinical research projects in the research experience course. She was a co-investigator for 6 years on a large grant entitled "Subtypes and Associated Risk Factors in Stuttering" from the National Institutes of Health (NIDCD) with the PI from the University of Illinois and other co-investigators at University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois University.  She has co-authored one book and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr Throneburg learned from her department chairs over the years (Robert Augustine, Mary Ann Hanner, and Gail Richard) the value of meaningful service contributions to the department, the university, as well as state and national professional organizations.  She and Karla Sanders, with the help of a small group of EIU faculty, headed the initiative to offer dual credit partnerships with high schools.  She has served on numerous campus committees including the Committee for the Assessment of Student Learning, the Committee on Academic Affairs, the Honor's Council, the self-study leadership committee for EIU's reaffirmation of accreditation from the North Central Association of the Higher Learning Comission, two On-Line Learning committees, the Council for Faculty Research, the Commencement Committee, Writing Across the Curriculum, the Undergraduate Research Council, and the College of Science Technology Committee.  Professional service includes six years on the Executive Board for the Illinois Speech and Hearing Association (ISHA) in two different vice-presidential roles, and various other committees and roles such as a reviewer for professional journals and conference presentations.

Dr Throneburg has received numerous awards at Eastern Illinois University numerous awards at Eastern Illinois University including several Achievement and Contribution Awards, the Distinguished Honor's Faculty Award, the Alan and Carlene Baharlou Distinguished Service Award, and the Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award.  She was honored by being named as a Fellow of the Illinois Speech Language Hearing Association (ISHA) and received the Illinois Clinical Achievement Award from ISHA.

Education & Training

B.S.  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1991

M.A.  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1993

Ph.D. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1997

Publications

Books:

McCormick, C., Throneburg, R., & Smitley, J. (2002). A Sound Start: Phonemic Awareness Lessons for Reading Success. New York: Guildford Publications.

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
Ambrose, N.G., Yairi, E., Loucks, T.M., Seery, C., & Throneburg, R.N. (2015). Relation of motor, linguistic, and temperament factors in epidemiologic subtypes of stuttering: Initial findings.  Joural of Fluency Disorders, volume 25, 12-26.

Tumanova, V., Zebrowski, P.M., Throneburg, R.N., & Kulak Kayikci, M.E. (2011). Articulation rate and its relationship to disfluency type, duration, and temperment in preschool children who stutter.  Journal of Communication Disorders, Volume 44, Issue 1, 116-129.

 

Calvert, L.K., Throneburg, R.N., Grimaldi, M., Paul, P., & Althoff, J. (2001). Classroom teachers and speech therapists collaborating to improve listening and reading comprehension. Eastern Education Journal, 30, 43-47.

 

Throneburg, R. N. & Yairi, E. (2001). Durational characteristics of disfluencies: A longitudinal study regarding persistence and recovery. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 38-51.

 

Throneburg, R. N., Calvert, L. K., Sturm, J. M., Paramboukas, A. M., Paul, P. J. (2000). A comparison of service delivery models: Effects on curricular vocabulary skills in the school setting. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9, 10-20.

 

Yairi, E., Ambrose, N.G., Paden, E.P. & Throneburg, R. N. (1996). Predictive factors of persistence and recovery: Pathways of childhood stuttering. Journal of Communication Disorders, 29, 51-77.

 

Throneburg, R.N., Yairi, E. & Paden, E.P. (1994). Relation between phonologic difficulty and the occurrence of disfluencies in the early stage of stuttering. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 37, 505-509.

 

Yairi, E., Ambrose, N.G. & Niermann, R.M. (1993). The early months of stuttering: A developmental study. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 521-528.

Frequently Taught Courses

CDS 2200 – Language Acquisition
CDS 4900 – Undergraduate Clinical Practicum
CDS 5000 – Research Methods in Communication Sciences and Disorders
CDS 5001 - Research Experience in Communication Disorders & Sciences
CDS 5100 - Motor Speech Disorders
CDS 5150 - Fluency Disorders
CDS 5850/5890 – Graduate Independent Study and Thesis
CDS 5900/5910 – Graduate Clinical Practicum and Diagnostics

Research & Creative Interests

Speech-Language Service Delivery Models in the School Setting

The Development and Remission of Early Childhood Stuttering

Phonological Awareness and Literacy Skills/Treatment for Children with Communication Disorders

Evaluation of Treatment Effectiveness for a variety of Communication Disorders (often using Single Subject Research Designs)