Exploring manifold asymmetry in interaction-focused intervention for aphasia

<p dir="ltr">People with aphasia face challenges in communication that may be induced by the manifold asymmetries inherent to social interaction. Interaction-focused intervention for aphasia aims to address the consequences of aphasia. Speech pathologists provide this intervention, working with people with aphasia and their familiar conversation partners to adjust their communicative behaviours. However, the forms of institutional interaction and activities undertaken during this intervention create a tendency for asymmetry to manifest. Guided by Enfield (2011/2013)’s conceptual approach to asymmetry – encompassing enchrony, status, knowledge, and agency – this study employs conversation analysis to explore how these multiple elements of asymmetry manifest in the organisation of triadic conversations in interaction-focused intervention. Three dyads (i.e., three people with aphasia and their spouses) and a speech pathologist participated in this study and were video recorded during intervention sessions for an eight-week interaction-focused intervention. Data analysis focused on “reflection” activities in this intervention, which included moments where participants reflected on their own and others’ communicative behaviours. Conversation-analytic single episode analysis was used to analyse 35 instances where conversation partners intervened in the response of a person with aphasia. Analyses of three interactional phenomena are presented: (i) non-minimal post-expansion of sequences; (ii) eliciting responses from the participants with aphasia; and (iii) speaking on behalf of the participants with aphasia. These findings provide insight into potential active ingredients in interaction-focused intervention and contribute to the current understandings of “(in)competence” of individuals with aphasia as socially and interactionally constructed.</p>