Speaking partners’ talk in transitions between symbols in conversations that use speech-output technologies

Abstract

Aided conversations differ from spoken ones in their transitions between turns and symbols because seeking and choosing symbols takes more time than speaking words naturally. This study adopted the concepts and principles of conversation analysis (CA) to analyze the transitions between symbols during the construction of aided turns. The data was from the spontaneous conversations at home between mothers and four males (sons) who used speech-output technologies. The analyses compared the durations of transitions between turns and symbols and frequency of mothers’ talk during the transitions. The mothers most often remained silent during the symbol-transitions, but when they talked, their speech was inspired by the current context and was not coincidental. When the mothers spoke during the symbol-transitions, their sons either continued or paused constructing their turn. Despite the effect on the progress of conversations, the participants did not orient to these expanded aided turns as challenging. The expansions manifested (a) in parallel (b) side by side with the aided turn, and (c) as a part of the ongoing aided turn. Analyzing the structural characteristics of aided conversations deepens our understanding of theoretical concepts, offers strategies to guide aided communicators and their partners, and helps to develop augmentative and alternative communication technologies that promote interactive communication.