Project Description
This project continues our research on miscommunications in aided speech. That is, speech aided by electronic devices that produce synthetic voices, or high-tech “Augmentative and Alternative Communication” (AAC). AAC is often a primary means of communication for people with complex communication disabilities. In AAC interaction, miscommunications can be frequent, impeding mutual understanding and stopping the conversation. Using “Interactional Linguistics,” we analyze systematic patterns based in participants’ verbal and bodily actions in videorecorded, natural interaction between an AAC-using person and a nondisabled person. We have coded three hours of data, analyzing points where miscommunication begins (the “trouble source”) and participants’ subsequent strategies for repairing the trouble. “Action strategies” include vocalizations, gestures, eye gaze, laughter, and typing. Our findings show AAC-using participants using laughter to mark trouble sources and “repair completion,” which is also the point participants resume the prior conversation. During spring semester, we aim to continue analyzing laughter and its pairing with other action strategies. Identifying trouble sources, attempting to repair trouble, and completing repairs are crucial steps that keep social interaction moving forward, allowing participants to achieve their joint communicative purposes. Understanding these processes will facilitate interaction between people who use AAC and those they interact with every day.
Tasks and Responsibilites
We are working with a shared Excel file that includes our data, coded for participants, the time codes for trouble sources, repair attempts, repair completions, and the action strategies (defined above) participants use for each step. The student’s responsibilities during the spring semester include continuing to code an additional five hours of videorecorded data. This process involves viewing video files along with the relevant transcripts, identifying each trouble source and the subsequent actions of each participant until the point that the participants either complete the repair or stop trying (typically moving to another topic). Another responsibility is updating the transcripts as needed. We will also meet weekly to discuss any questions and the overall progress of our research. As we code additional data, we will continue analyzing the use of laughter as well as examine the use of other action strategies such as vocalizations and eye gaze in the repair process. For example, we have noticed that one of the AAC-using participants uses the word no to mark trouble sources, but we need to examine this strategy further. Finally, the student researcher will continue analyzing the data for their own project, involving the functions of laughter in the repair process.