Series Note

The BSU Special Education and Communication Disorders Department split into two separate departments in 2016. To browse submissions by department, visit:

Title

The Use of Conversational Repair Strategies by Children Who Are Deaf

Publication Date

1999

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The investigation examined conversational repair strategies of deaf and hearing children in response to a partner's indication of communication breakdown. Eight profoundly deaf children who used total communication were compared with eight hearing children; the children were matched by age and sex. Each child was videotaped engaging in two language sample elicitation activities — one structured, one informal. An investigator initiated 10 stacked clarification request sequences consisting of three neutral requests — "Huh?"; "What?"; "I don't understand" — per sequence. Language samples from the sequences were transcribed; repair response types were coded. Frequencies and percentages of occurrence were derived for each request type in each repair category and for each language condition. Deaf and hearing children employed different repair strategies. Deaf children were more likely to revise utterances; hearing children were as likely to repeat utterances as to revise, and were more likely to provide cue repairs. No significant differences were noted when communication conditions were compared. When facing communication breakdown, deaf children persisted effectively in clarifying utterances.

Original Citation

Ciocci S.R., Baran J.A. (1999). The Use of Conversational Repair Strategies by Children Who Are Deaf. American Annals of the Deaf, 143(3), 235-245. https://doi.org/10.1353/aad.2012.0129

Share

COinS