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The use of conversational repair strategies in response to requests for clarification by deaf/hearing-impaired and hearing children
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to compare conversational repair strategies of hearing and deaf/hearing-impaired children in response to a partner's indication of communication breakdown. Experimental subjects were eight profoundly deaf children, ages 4 years to 7 years, 6 months, who used total communication. Control subjects were eight hearing children, matched by age and sex to experimental subjects. Each subject was videotaped while individually engaged in two language sample elicitation activities, a structured and an informal communication situation. During the conversation in each experimental condition, the investigator initiated ten stacked clarification request sequences consisting of three neutral queries ("Huh?," "What?," and "I don't understand.") per sequence. The sequences were inserted on alternating items about which the subject spoke, and/or when the subject produced an intelligible utterance of sufficient complexity that a clarification request had validity. The videotaped language samples of the clarification request/repair response sequences were transcribed verbatim. Clarification repairs were coded as repetition, revision, addition, cue, discussion, and inappropriate responses. Variations in the use of total communication by the experimental subjects, and the use of pointing, or other mode variations, by the control subjects were also coded. Frequencies and percentages of occurrence were derived for each request type in each repair category and for each language condition. Chi-square analyses were used to determine the relationships between the variables. Results indicated that while all subjects were aware of the obligatory nature of the clarification requests, experimental and control subjects employed different types of repair strategies. Revision repairs were the most common type of responses, however, deaf/hearing-impaired subjects were twice as likely to revise their utterances while hearing subjects were as likely to repeat as they were to revise their utterances. In addition, hearing subjects were three times more likely to provide cue repair responses as their experimental counterparts. Differences in conversational repair strategies were also evident as the queries in the clarification request sequences progressed. No significant differences were noted within groups when communication conditions were compared. Communication mode variations appeared to have little influence on the coding of repair strategies.
Subject Area
Speech therapy|Language|Special education
Recommended Citation
Ciocci, Sandra R, "The use of conversational repair strategies in response to requests for clarification by deaf/hearing-impaired and hearing children" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9420611.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9420611