APHASIA THERAPY DIALOGS

The interaction between the speech therapist and the aphasic was explored by videotaping a 15-minute sample from a therapy session. Six aphasic-therapist pairs served as subjects in the study. A middle five-minute segment of each conversation was extracted for analysis, which focused on the use of interactional space and different communicative functions in therapy conversations. The results showed that during the conversation therapists had a regulatory role which was manifested in their frequent use of requests for information and clarification. Aphasics had more speech time but were in a responsive role in the conversation; 79% of the aphasics' communicative functions were extended answers, answers and minimal responses. In addition, the longer speech time of aphasics can be explained by their frequent trouble-indicating behaviour during speaking (e.g., pauses, interjections and repeats). These preliminary results on aphasia therapy conversation suggest that the role of the therapist in conversation should be re-evaluated if conversation is used as a method for rehabilitating aphasics' communicative performance.