Conversation repair and adult cochlear implantation: a qualitative case study

Abstract

Conversation breakdown and repair has been suggested to be a common site of the disability arising from acquired hearing impairment in adults. This qualitative case study reports on certain consequences of the use of general versus specific conversation repair initiators for the resolution of repair sequences. The 47 repair sequences analysed in this paper arose in a single 20‐minute free and unstructured conversation between an adult bilateral cochlear implantee and his wife, audio‐recorded in a clinic setting. The repairs analysed in this paper were undertaken in response to either general (n = 18) or specific (n = 29) repair requests. No difference was found in the number of turns taken to resolve repairs in response to general or specific repair requests. Qualitative analysis demonstrated that uttering the repair initiator in the immediate vicinity of the miscommunicated portion of talk provided the primary cue to the conversation partner about the location and the content of what had been misunderstood. These preliminary findings imply a change to rehabilitation counselling offered to familiar communication partners. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The occurrence of ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘what house’ and other repair initiations in the home environment of hearing‐impaired individuals

“…In contrast, specific strategies target a certain part of the content of the talk (‘which’; Skelt : 246) or comment on its production (‘don‘t mumble …’; Lind et al . : 38).…”

“…, Lind et al . , , Skelt , Sparrow and Hird ). However, further information is needed on how repair initiations are used in everyday conversations.…”

“…The method of Conversation Analysis (CA), which has a central focus on how turns of talk are utilized in relation to one another (sequential organization of talk), offers tools for the type of analysis needed in the present study (Lind et al . , , Skelt , Lind ).…”

“…Although these studies have been conducted in clinical settings (between family members; Lind et al . —mainly between audiologists and clients; Skelt ), they still reveal that what is said can be only a partial contribution to the repair initiative action in progress. For example, with the sequential analysis of CA, the resource of timing is presented, which possibly elaborates on the depth of misperception (Lind et al .…”

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

“…Secondly, J repairs with a repefition of the portion of talk immediately preceding N's interrupfion (and following this, N confirms his revised understanding with his line 6 'yeah'). Lind et al (2006) suggest that in the absence of specific cues as to the content of the trouble source this successful selection of the repairable portion of talk is based on its proximity to N's interruption.…”