The theme of non-fluency of speech in written autobiographical narratives of people who stutter

Abstract

This article regards written autobiographical narratives of people who stutter. The collected material was analysed using both the quantitative and the qualitative method. The aim of the research was to determine whether the issue of stuttering is touched upon in autobiographical narratives of people who stutter. If so, what portion of the narrative is dedicated to the theme of non-fluency of speech. The conducted analyses permitted the verification of the hypotheses posed. It was concluded that the ones including the theme of stuttering were predominant among the narratives collected. Stuttering is present both as a separate thread and as part of other thematic threads. Threads where the issue of non-fluency of speech was taken up most frequently can be distinguished in the analysed narratives. Keywords: stuttering – autobiographical narratives – autobiography – written statement – non-fluency of speech – thematic analysis.