Aphasia and explicit next speaker selection

Abstract

Introduction: Typical speakers use various explicit practices for selecting a next speaker in everyday conversations, but little is known about how explicit next speaker selection is accomplished by people with aphasia and their conversation partners, nor the effects of aphasia on this aspect of conversation. Method: This study explores explicit next speaker selection in Indonesian multiparty conversations involving people with aphasia. A total of 150 minutes of conversation were analyzed using conversation analysis, focusing on a set of 208 questions. Results: People with aphasia relied on gaze and tacit resources to select next speakers. They also failed to secure uptake of their questions despite successful selection. When they are selected as next speaker, people with aphasia also experienced difficulty participating effectively. Discussion and conclusion: Selecting people with aphasia as next speakers can cause their linguistic competence to be topicalized and may result in their failing to develop a fitted response to the question. The findings of the present study offer some potential new directions for measuring conversations involving people with aphasia.