Pragmatics and Disordered Speech. Mackenzie Salt, M.A., H.B.A., D-TEIL

Transcription

1 Pragmatics and Disordered Speech Mackenzie Salt, M.A., H.B.A., D-TEIL

2 Disordered Speech What is disordered speech? How is it studied? Why is it important to study disordered speech?

3 Disordered Speech and Pragmatics Disordered Speech is very important in investigating pragmatics TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) RHD (Right Hemisphere Damage) ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

4 Introduction to ASD ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder Pervasive Developmental Disability There are different types Autism, PDD-NOS, Asperger s Syndrome Further split into High-Functioning and Low-Functioning

5 Main Features of ASD Social Communication Difficulty with Social Cognition Lack of Joint Attention Language Delay in Language Acquisition Violations of Gricean Maxims Behaviour Repetitive and Stereotyped Behaviours Sensory Integration Dysfunction

6 Pragmatic Features of ASD Violation of Turn-Taking rules and other social conventions Idiosyncratic lexical meanings* Inappropriately formal speech Reduction in cohesion and coherence in discourse Difficulty foregrounding and backgrounding of information** Perseveration on a single topic Violations of Gricean Maxims Saying things that lack relevance to the hearer Difficulty with non-literal language Difficulty with small talk Saying things that are blunt or rude, disregards politeness

7 Is ASD Evidence for Pragmatics? Clinical Linguistics evidence has been used to tease apart discrete parts of linguistics Aphasia Specific Language Impairment William s Syndrome Morphology, Semantics*, Pragmatics Down Syndrome Phonology, Syntax, Pragmatics, Lexicon ASD Phonology, Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics (LF). Pragmatics only (HF) RHD Pragmatics* TBI*

8 Dissociation Used to identify the neural basis or existence within the mind of a particular brain function or component Single Dissociation Damage to structure A disrupts function X but not function Y X and Y are independent in some way, possibly misleading TV Example Double Dissociation Damage to structure A disrupts function X but not function Y and damage to structure B disrupts function Y but not function X X and Y are independent in a more specific way Broca s and Wernicke s areas

9 Dissociation Pragmatics is sole area of language impairment in some HF ASD individuals whereas other disorders include other difficulties with pragmatics Are these difficulties really pragmatic? If yes, Single Dissociation If no, Double Dissociation

10 Theories of ASD Theories of ASD are not mutually exclusive and there is some overlap Theories of ASD do not propose a cause for the condition but instead for the cognitive symptoms Social Inference Theory Weak Central Coherence Executive Dysfunction

11 Theory of Mind Social Inference Theory Refers to the ability to attribute knowledge and beliefs to others Different tiers of Theory of Mind based on how many people involved First-Order (Someone else s thoughts) Second-Order (Someone else s thoughts about a third party) Third-Order and more

12 Theory of Mind First-Order Metaphor, Gricean Maxims, JA, Topic, Humour*, Lies* Second-Order Irony, Relevance* Third-Order Societal standards: politeness,

13 Weak Central Coherence Inability to use context to derive meaning Presumes a central system whose job it is to integrate sources of information Individuals attend to small pieces of information rather than large, globally coherent patterns of information, Can t see the forest for the trees

14 Weak Central Coherence Difficulty integrating elements of discourse via inference Difficulty with all forms of non-literal language Not being able to select the punch line to a joke Reduced cohesion and coherence in discourse Impairment in foregrounding and backgrounding Can cause other non-pragmatic language problems

15 Executive Dysfunction The Executive refers to a system that co-ordinates behaviour, enabling a person to use their cognitive abilities in a variety of different situations in a flexible manner. The rules of communication change with context, making the Executive necessary for adaptive communication Accounts for heterogeneity of difficulties in ASD Hard to link strictly to pragmatics but affects planning and spontaneity which are required for some pragmatic processes

16 Are People with ASD Impaired or Different? Are these difficulties really impairments or do people with ASD process pragmatic content differently? Conduit metaphor Cross-cultural evidence What does ASD speech look like?

17 Non-Literal Language Non-Literal Language PACK YOUR Jacob: go home pack your bags Thor: pack your suitcase you mean Batman: bags suitcase same darn thing

18 Theory of Mind Conversational Structure and Theory of Mind INSTRUCTIONS Batman: okay the cards are out of the box Batman: *Pause* Batman: may I ask why they are out of the box Batman: *Pause* Batman: and you do not know the answer to that Thor: oy I hate this Batman: We have not even played this game yet and you already hate it? Thor: no I am just trying ta- Batman: -figure out the instructions? Thor: yes

19 Going Uphill Batman: once again going downhill Batman: I really want people going uphill instead of going down Thor: go Batman: now we are going uphill.

20 Going Uphill Batman: you guys were both going downhill from here Kal-El: I know Batman: I felt like it was going to be for ages before you two got uphill Batman: but you did Batman: you both got uphill and managed to get to the top Batman: instead of going down to the bottom Kal-El: but is not it kind of fun when you win the first one and you see everyone else struggle? Batman: you mean like whenever I I won this round and then I see you both struggle up the hill Kal-El: yeah and down the hill Batman: up the hill again see who get to the top XXX Batman: win win Batman: now we are all starting from the bottom Kal-El: yup Batman: have to work our way to the top Kal-El: that is what you got to do in everything Kal-El: work yourself to the top Batman: yup

21 Conclusion Pragmatics in disordered speech is tricky Best evidence that pragmatics is a distinct part of linguistics