Linguistic characteristics of AAC discourse in the workplace. (June 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Friginal, Eric; Pearson, Pamela; Di Ferrante, Laura; Pickering, Lucy; Bruce, Carrie
• Is Part Of: Discourse studies. Volume 15:Number 3(2013)
• Page Start: 279
• Page End: 298
• Publication Date: 2013-06
• Subjects: Augmentative and alternative communication devices -- communication impairments -- corpus linguistics -- discourse analysis -- multidimensional analysis -- workplace discourse; Discourse analysis -- Periodicals; 401.405
• DOI: 10.1177/1461445613480586
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-4456

Abstract

This study examines linguistic co-occurrence patterns in the discourse of individuals with communication impairments who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices in the workplace by comparing them to those of non-AAC users in similar job settings. A typical workweek (≈ 40 hours) per focal participant (four AAC; four non-AAC) was recorded and transcribed to create a specialized corpus of workplace discourse of approximately 464, 000 words at the time of this analysis. A multidimensional analysis of co-occurrence patterns along functional linguistic dimensions, following Biber (1988, 1995) [ Variation across Speech and Writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Dimensions of Register Variation: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], reveals differences in the macro discourse characteristics of AAC vis-a-vis non-AAC texts. Results indicate that AAC texts make use of more informational, non-narrative, and explicit textual features of discourse than their non-AAC counterparts. Implications to improve the capabilities of AAC devices to produce speech that matches baseline expectations of co-workers in the workplace are discussed.