Conversational Repair Research Articles

Timing of Visual Bodily Behavior in Repair Sequences: Evidence From Three Languages

This article expands the study of other-initiated repair in conversation—when one party signals a problem with producing or perceiving another's turn at talk—into the domain of visual bodily behavior. It presents one primary cross-linguistic finding about the timing of visual bodily behavior in repair sequences: if the party who initiates repair accompanies their turn with a “hold”—when relatively dynamic movements are temporarily and meaningfully held static—this position will not be disengaged until the problem is resolved and the sequence closed. We base this finding on qualitative and quantitative analysis of corpora of conversational interaction from three unrelated languages representing two different modalities: Northern Italian, the Cha'palaa language of Ecuador, and Argentine Sign Language. The cross-linguistic similarities uncovered by this comparison suggest that visual bodily practices have been semiotized for similar interactive functions across different languages and modalities due to common pressures in face-to-face interaction.

The intersection of turn-taking and repair: the timing of other-initiations of repair in conversation.

The transitions between turns at talk in conversation tend to occur quickly, with only a slight gap of ∼100–300 ms between them. This estimate of central tendency, however, hides a wealth of complex variation, as a number of factors, such as the type of turns involved, have been shown to influence the timing of turn transitions. This article considers one specific type of turn that does not conform to the statistical trend, namely turns that deal with troubles of speaking, hearing, and understanding, known as other-initiations of repair (OIR). The results of a quantitative analysis of 169 OIRs in face-to-face conversation reveal that the most frequent cases occur after gaps of ∼700 ms. Furthermore, OIRs that locate a source of trouble in a prior turn specifically tend to occur after shorter gaps than those that do not, and those that correct errors in a prior turn, while rare, tend to occur without delay. An analysis of the transitions before OIRs, using methods of conversation analysis, suggests that speakers use the extra time (i) to search for a late recognition of the problematic turn, (ii) to provide an opportunity for the speaker of the problematic turn to resolve the trouble independently, and (iii) to produce visual signals, such as facial gestures. In light of these results, it is argued that OIRs take priority over other turns at talk in conversation and therefore are not subject to the same rules and constraints that motivate fast turn transitions in general.

Assessing pragmatic language in autism spectrum disorder: the Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol.

This study compared pragmatic language in youths (9-17 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development (TD) on the Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol (YiPP), a semistructured, dynamic conversational assessment. Participants (n = 118) were divided into groups based on age and diagnosis. Each completed the YiPP, which included 4 pragmatic domains (discourse management, communicative functions, conversational repair, presupposition). The participant's response to each probe was scored correct or incorrect; incorrect scores elicited cues from the examiner, and level of cue required for a correction was also scored. The YiPP showed high reliability and internal consistency, with moderate concurrent validity, sensitivity, and specificity. The group with ASD performed worse overall on YiPP probes compared to their TD counterparts on both error (d = 0.96) and cue (d = 0.91) scores. Item analyses revealed greater gaps between older students with ASD and their TD peers than between the 2 younger groups. These data suggest that a probe measure designed to assess pragmatic abilities in children with ASD within a conversational context has some validity for contributing to diagnostic classification and can identify specific areas of pragmatic vulnerabilities as part of a clinical assessment.

Book Review: Conversational repair and human understanding

Book Review: Conversational repair and human understanding

Semantic trouble sources and their repair in conversations affected by Parkinson's disease.

BackgroundIt is known that dysarthria arising from Parkinson's disease may affect intelligibility in conversational interaction. Research has also shown that Parkinson's disease may affect cognition and cause word-retrieval difficulties and pragmatic problems in the use of language. However, it is not known whether or how these problems become manifest in everyday conversations or how conversation partners handle such problems.AimsTo describe the pragmatic problems related to the use of words that occur in everyday conversational interaction in dyads including an individual with Parkinson's disease, and to explore how interactants in conversation handle the problems to re-establish mutual understanding.Methods & ProceduresTwelve video-recorded everyday conversations involving three couples where one of the individuals had Parkinson's disease were included in the study. All instances of other-initiated repair following a contribution from the people with Parkinson's disease were analysed. Those instances involving a trouble source relating to the use of words were analysed with a qualitative interaction analysis based on the principles of conversation analysis.Outcomes & ResultsIn 70% of the instances of other-initiated repair the trouble source could be related to the semantic content produced by the individual with Parkinson's disease. The problematic contributions were typically characterized by more or less explicit symptoms of word search or use of atypical wording. The conversation partners completed the repair work collaboratively, but typically the non-impaired individual made a rephrasing or provided a suggestion for what the intended meaning had been.Conclusions & ImplicationsIn clinical work with people with Parkinson's disease and their conversation partners it is important to establish what type of trouble sources occur in conversations in a specific dyad. It may often be necessary to look beyond intelligibility and into aspects of pragmatics to understand more fully the impact of Parkinson's disease on everyday conversational interaction.

Conversation tactics in persons with normal hearing and hearing-impairment

Objectives: To investigate the tactics people use when aural communication fails owing to environmental circumstances or impaired hearing. Design: Persons with different degrees of self-reported hearing impairment completed an online questionnaire constructed from items taken from the literature on communication strategies but reworded to be understood by people with normal hearing. Tactics were examined for frequency of use in two severities of impairment and between genders. All the data were then factor analysed and factor scores related to variables of relevance to communication. Study sample: A large convenience sample (n = 188) with a range of self-assessed hearing impairment from normal to profound. Results: Descriptive data revealed some differences in frequency of use in relation to severity and gender. Factor analysis yielded six clearly interpretable factors, the largest relating to disengagement (avoidance). Self-assessed impairment was chiefly associated with a speech reading tactic, negatively with environmental optimization strategies, and to a small extent with disengagement and conversation repair. Conclusions: Only the tactic of speech reading was closely associated with impaired hearing, with some evidence that females were more inclined to use it. Otherwise, all tactics were commonly employed, regardless of hearing status.

Conversation repair: Ecological validity of outcome measures in acquired hearing impairment

ObjectiveEveryday conversation is the most widely reported difficulty arising from adult acquired hearing impairment (HI), yet no clinical method currently exists by which direct observation of conversational ability can be measured. This review of recent research argues that specific patterns of conversation repair arise in interaction involving adults who have acquired HI and that they may be of utility in assessing the outcome of intervention.MethodsThis brief review paper presents a summary of data on the conduct of repair in free and unstructured conversations between HI adults and their frequent communication partners using Conversation Analysis as the guiding theory and analytic method.ResultsResults indicate that certain types of repair are influenced by one participant in the conversation having an acquired hearing impairment. Further, these patterns of repair behaviour are resolved in concert by the participants in the conversation.DiscussionPatterns of repair behaviour may be used as criterion variables in assessing the need for and outcome of audiological intervention, including implantation, hearing aid fitting and/or conversation-based therapy. Previous research has shown that these measures are both consistent across time in the absence of intervention and that they are sensitive to intervention.ConclusionThese findings support the potential for conversationally-oriented therapy models of assessment and intervention and suggest a framework by which clinical tasks might be analysed with respect to their conversation ‘reality’. This initial evidence needs to be supported by investigations across larger samples of adults with acquired hearing impairment.

Unpacking “Self”

Goffman’s work on footing has paved the way to specifying the analytic concepts of speaker and hearer in social interaction. This article empirically examines participants’ moment-by-moment negotiated understandings of speakerhood in the context of conversational repair—sequences of talk dedicated to resolving problems of hearing, speaking, or understanding. I demonstrate that participation in repair sequences reflects interactants’ orientations to socially distributed rights to knowledge, or epistemics. Even though speakers are ordinarily entitled to speak on their own behalf and, thus, to repair their own talk, the application of this right is a contingent, negotiated, and sometimes contested matter. Using the methodology of conversation analysis to examine a large corpus of video-recorded English, Russian, and bilingual multiparty interactions, I show how asymmetries in participants’ experiences and expertise are drawn upon in the process of repair resolution, suggesting a respecification of the notion of “self” as it pertains to repair.

Form-focused social repertoires in an online language learning partnership

This study explores how mutual language learning partners, a native speaker (NS) and learner of Italian as a foreign language, use conversational repair as an authentic resource for out-of-class social interaction and focus-on-form during online text chat sessions. Specifically, it analyses the sequential organization of prototypical form-focused exposed correction sequences where the NS both initiates and completes repair of the learner's non-target grammar in the same turn, also known as recast. Findings indicate that despite the face-threatening nature of exposed correction within an unequal speech exchange system, participants maintain social solidarity by orienting to expert-novice roles and integrating recasts into phatic action-accepting and appreciation routines to bring form-focused trajectories to a polite conclusion prior to returning to topical talk. The learner's role as interaction manager is evident in her regular transformation of NS-initiated pedagogical actions-in-progress into social ones. Comparison of these form-focused pedagogical-social trajectories with a prototypical teacher-fronted instructional repertoire, the Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) sequence, reveals previously unidentified differences in how participants manage their interactions, especially exposed correction, in a formal-pedagogical and an informal social-pedagogical environment. While IRF is only one of many instructional repertoires in which correction activity is nested, fundamental structural differences suggest that online dyadic chat within language learning partnerships provides a potentially empowering and spontaneous alternative to classroom-based instructional repertoires, in preparation for real-life interaction in the target language.

A Study of EFL Classroom Discourse from the Perspectives of both DA and CA

In order to get the deeper understanding of EFL classroomdiscourse, the researcher displays the process of EFLclassroom discourse through the analytical instrumentsof both DA and CA. It is found that there are severaldiscourse structures in the EFL classroom discourse fromthe perspective of DA, it is more complex than the singleIRF structure which also including the IRFR structure,theIR [I1R1 … (InRn)] F structure and the IR1F1R2F2 …RnFnstructure. From the perspective of CA, the researchshows that quite a few conversational skills are usedin the EFL classroom discourse, such as turn-taking,conversation repair, interruption and repetition. It isconcluded that the students generally play a passive roleinEFL classroom discourse, especially in teacher-studentinteraction. Itshould be the joint effort of teacher andstudents to increase students’ contributionin classroomdiscourse and interaction. Key words: Discourse analysis; Conversationanalysis; IRF model; Turn-taking; ESL classroom

Comprehension checks, clarifications, and corrections in an emergency call with a nonnative speaker of Swedish

This article reports on a case study of an emergency call with a 12-year-old girl, who is hearably not a native speaker of Swedish. A sequential analysis of the recorded call revealed two interesting interactional practices through which the participants can be seen to pursue mutual understanding. The first type of practice involves the participants’ orientation toward potential or projected problems of comprehension and should therefore be understood in terms of preemptive management of mutual understanding. This is chiefly accomplished by either party (a) making sure that the other party has understood; (b) checking the correctness and adequacy of one’s own understanding; and finally (c) displaying one’s own understanding of the other party en passant, that is, without requiring the other party’s confirmation. The second type of practice, commonly known as conversational repair, is used to deal with established problems of comprehension. The methods through which these problems are managed involve (d) repeating and paraphrasing preceding turns or their problematic fragments; (e) finding alternative ways of talking about demonstrably noncomprehended information; and finally (f) postponing such problematic exchanges. The study demonstrates that despite the institutionally asymmetric character of emergency calls, both participants are actively engaged in working toward intersubjectivity, and the analysis identifies several different ways through which the parties orient to and handle interactional trouble so as to secure mutual comprehension in a socially smooth yet efficient manner.

Language alternation and conversational repair in bilingual conversation

Researchers have consistently reported language alternation in repair sequences in bilingual conversation. However, up until now, no systematic account of the relationship between language alternation and conversational repair has been put forward. The aim of this article is to fill this gap. Two main questions are addressed: (a) where in the repair sequence can language alternation occur? And (b) what does language alternation do in repair sequences when it occurs? Two main theoretical ideas are drawn upon in addressing these research questions, namely the fact that “nothing is, in principle, excludable from the class ‘repairable’” (Schegloff, Jefferson & Sacks, 1977, p. 363) and the fact that language choice itself is a “significant aspect of talk organisation” (Gafaranga, 1999). Applying these ideas, the article shows that language alternation can occur at any point in the repair sequence. As for the functionality of language alternation, the article shows that, among bilingual speakers, repair may be addressed to language choice itself. Alternatively, language alternation may be used as an additional resource in the organization of repair.

Across languages and cultures: Brokering problems of understanding in conversational repair

AbstractThis article examines the interactional construction of language competence in bilingual immigrant communities. The focus is on how participants in social interaction resolve problems of understanding that are demonstrably rooted in their divergent linguistic and cultural expertise. Using the methodology of conversation analysis to examine mundane video-recorded conversations in Russian-American immigrant families, I describe a previously unanalyzed communicative practice for solving understanding problems: by one participant enacting the role of a language broker in a repair sequence. The article thus contributes to the existing research on the interactional construction of language competence, on the one hand, and on the organization of repair and its relationship to social epistemics, on the other. (Language brokering, repair, conversation analysis, social epistemics, multiparty conversation, Russian, immigrant families, intercultural communication)*

Conversation Analysis of Hearing Impairment : Repair Strategy in Audiology and Organization of Repair in Conversation

Conversation Analysis of Hearing Impairment : Repair Strategy in Audiology and Organization of Repair in Conversation

The role of repair in modulating modal stances in Chinese discourse

This study explores the intersubjective and dynamic construction of modal meanings in Chinese discourse. Specifically, it examines the role conversational repair plays in ascertaining the entailments of modal meanings such as obligation, possibility and permissibility, specifying the range of modal strengths, and assigning an emergent and negotiated quality to these meanings. It argues that repair shapes and sharpens speakers’ modal stances, especially when the modal expression is polysemous. Illustrative data are drawn from 30 hours of audio/video recorded interaction in weekend Chinese language schools.

On the use of the term ‘repair’ and its application to disordered conversational speech

Conversational repair is a commonly studied aspect of both normal and disordered human interaction. It has the potential to reveal a great deal about how speakers deal with problems in naturally occurring talk-in-interaction. However, the extent to which repair has been defined, classified, and then compared to such phenomena as repetitions, slips of the tongue, pauses, and fillers has not always been altogether consistent. This paper discusses the use of the term repair in a variety of disciplines and proposes a taxonomy of repair types. It is suggested that this will facilitate the quantification of repair in corpora of disordered conversation, allowing for comparisons of frequency counts across speakers, disorders, and time points.

Insertion as a self-repair device and its interactional motivations in Chinese conversation

Conversational repair has been studied for its organizational features, relationship with syntax, and interactional functions. This paper focuses on one particular type of same-turn self-repair, namely, insertions. Examining in detail a collection of insertions culled from a corpus of naturally occurring conversational data in Mandarin Chinese, an investigation has been carried out on the forms and functions of insertions in their sequential contexts. In terms of form and organization, two kinds of insertion are identified: local and global. ‘Local’ insertions operate on trouble-sources located within NPs, VPs, and sentences, achieving in most cases the modification of a reference or a predication. ‘Global’ insertions tend to be used to supplement a narrative with background information designed to make the point of the narrative more readily understood or better appreciated by the recipient. An in-depth analysis of insertions in their situational and sequential contexts reveals a variety of interactional motivations, including facilitating the recognizability of references, doing alignment and identity work, contributing to the construction of accounts, and providing backgrounding information in the delivery of narratives.

A comparison of bilingual and monolingual children’s conversational repairs

This study examined the conversational repair skills of 2- and 3-year-old French— English bilingual children and monolingual French-speaking children. While the ability to respond to requests for clarification has been well researched in monolingual children, it has not been investigated among bilingual children except to examine their ability to repair breakdowns due to the use of a language not spoken by their interlocutor. The present study provides a direct comparison of bilingual and monolingual children’s repairs of the types of breakdowns in conversations that are experienced by both populations, e.g., breakdowns due to ambiguity, choice of words, mispronunciations, inaudible utterances, and so on. A methodology of stacked requests for clarification was used to examine the range of response strategies and the overall response patterns of the children.The results reveal no differences between the bilingual and the monolingual children’s conversational repair skills. The present findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that bilingualism does not interfere with the language development of simultaneous bilinguals. As well, they extend our understanding of their ability to repair conversational breakdowns of the type that are experienced by all children.

Who Said What? Sampling Conversation Repair Behavior Involving Adults with Acquired Hearing Impairment

Aural rehabilitation techniques provide clinicians with a range of intervention strategies to address the impact of acquired hearing impairment on everyday conversation. Although clinicians rely on assessment of speech reception abilities in the clinic and self-report of the effects of intervention on conversation and psychosocial issues, they do not currently possess techniques by which they might directly assess changes in everyday conversational behavior following intervention. This article reports on studies that have sampled conversation behavior, particularly patterns of repair, as a basis for such direct assessment. These studies provide initial evidence of the potential for clinical assessment of conversation behavior as a direct method for evaluating the outcome of conversation-based aural rehabilitation techniques. This article reviews research into the assessment of repair in conversations involving adults who have acquired hearing impairment (HI). The article uses conversation analysis as the guiding methodology and theory to address acquired HI as a communication disorder. The ways in which conversation may be disrupted by an acquired HI are described, and the conduct and limitations of current technological and conversation-based rehabilitation for this population are discussed.

Some Prosodic Characteristics of Repeated Talk following Conversation Repair Requests by Adults with Hearing Impairment

Some Prosodic Characteristics of Repeated Talk following Conversation Repair Requests by Adults with Hearing Impairment