Task-setting at home and in speech and language therapy

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse and describe task-setting in game-like interactions. The task-setting is studied in two contexts: in everyday interaction and in speech and language therapy. The data comprises task interaction between mothers and 5-year-old typically developing children (6 pairs) and task interaction between speech and language therapists and 5-year-old children with specific language impairment (6 pairs). Through detailed examination of data extracts it is shown how mothers and speech and language therapists set tasks. Analysis and comparison of the empirical findings reveal the multimodal and specified character of the speech and language therapists’ task-setting. The use of speech prosody (use of pausing and focal emphasis) and the non-verbal substance of interaction (body behaviour, gestures and the use of therapy materials) play a prominent role. When comparing the task-setting between mothers and speech and language therapists it is evident how practices found in everyday interaction become specialized tools systematically used in the institutional context of speech and language therapy.