The Interactional Work of Repeated Talk between a Teacher and a Child with Autism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v3i1.1Keywords:
Conversation Analysis, repetition, echolalia, autism, repairAbstract
Repeating something that another speaker has just said is an important resource in everyday interaction. For example, repetition can be used to acknowledge or to repair prior talk. Although repetitions produced by individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been extensively researched, only a few studies have examined in detail how these individuals respond to repetitions produced by another speaker. The present report examines a naturally occurring dyadic conversation between a teacher and a 10-year-old girl with autism, video-recorded in a school in Finland. Conversation Analysis (CA) is used to analyse sequences of talk in which the child responds to repetitions produced by her teacher. We show how the child orients to the timing and prosodic features of the repetitions and responds selectively to either acknowledge or repair the teacher’s talk. We discuss how CA can contribute to a better understanding of the use of repeated talk in autism.
References
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Arminen, I. and Leinonen, M. (2006). Mobile phone call openings: Tailoring answers to personalized summonses. Discourse Studies 8 (3): 339–368. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445606061791
Atkinson, J. M. and Heritage, J. (eds) (1984). Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Couper-Kuhlen, E. (1996). The prosody of repetition: On quoting and mimicry. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies, 366–405. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992). Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fay, W. H. (1969). On the basis of autistic echolalia. Journal of Communication Disorders 2 (1): 38–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0021-9924(69)90053-7
Fine, J., Bartolucci, G., Ginsberg, G. and Szatmari, P. (1991). The use of intonation to communicate in pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 32 (5): 771–782. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb01901.x
Foxx, R. M., Schreck, K. A., Garito, J., Smith, A. and Weisenberger, S. (2004). Replacing the echolalia of children with autism with functional use of verbal labeling. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities 16 (4): 307–320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10882-004-0688-5
Frith, U. (2003). Autism: Explaining the Enigma (2nd edn). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Goodwin, C. (2007). Participation, stance and affect in the organization of activities. Discourse & Society 18 (1): 53–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926507069457
Haakana, M. (2010). Laughter and smiling: Notes on co-occurrences. Journal of Pragmatics 42 (6): 1499–1512. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.01.010
Hellermann, J. (2003). The interactive work of prosody in IRF exchange: Teacher repetition in feedback moves. Language in Society 32 (1): 79–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404503321049
Heritage, J. (1984a). Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Heritage, J. (1984b). A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 299–345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howlin, P. (1982). Echolalic and spontaneous phrase speech in autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 23 (3): 281–293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ j.1469-7610.1982.tb00073.x
Iivonen, A. (1998). Intonation in Finnish. In D. Hirst and A. Di Cristo (eds) Intonation Systems: A Survey of Twenty Languages, 311–327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G. (1984). On the organization of laughter in talk about troubles. In J. M. Atkin son and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 346–369. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G., Sacks, H. and Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Notes on laughter in the pursuit of intimacy. In G. Button and J. R. E. Lee (eds) Talk and Social Organisation, 152–205. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child 2: 217–250.
Karmali, I., Greer, R., Nuzzolo-Gomez, R. and Rivera-Valdes, C. (2005). Reducing palilalia by presenting tact corrections to young children with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behaviour 21 (1): 145–153.
Lerner, G. H. (1995). Turn design and the organization of participation in instructional activities. Discourse Processes 19 (1): 111–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638539109544907
Leslie, A. M. and Frith, U. (1988). Autistic children’s understanding of seeing, knowing and believing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 6 (4): 315–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01104.x
Lovaas, O. L., Schreibman, L. and Koegel, R. L. (1974). A behavior modification approach to the treatment of autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 4 (2): 111–129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02105365
Madden, M. L, Oelschlaeger, M. L. and Damico, J. S. (2002). The conversational value of laughter for a person with aphasia. Aphasiology 16 (12): 1199–1212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687030244000437
Ogden, R. (2004). Non-modal voice quality and turn-taking in Finnish. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and C. Ford (eds) Sound Patterns in Interaction, 29–62. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 57–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Prizant, B. M. (1983). Language acquisition and communicative behavior in autism: Toward an understanding of the ‘whole’ of it. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 48 (3): 296–307.
Prizant, B. M. and Duchan, J. F. (1981). The functions of immediate echolalia in autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 46 (3): 241–249.
Roberts, J. M. A. (1989). Echolalia and comprehension in autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 19 (2): 271–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02211846
Rutter, M. (1970). Autistic children: Infancy to adulthood. Seminars in Psychiatry 2 (4): 435–450.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4): 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist 70 (6): 1075–1095. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.) Georgetown University Roundtable on Language and Linguistics, 71–93. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1986). The routine as achievement. Human Studies 9 (2/3): 111–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00148124
Schegloff, E. A. (1996a). Confirming allusions: Toward an empirical account of action. American Journal of Sociology 102 (1): 161–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/230911
Schegloff, E. A. (1996b). Practices and actions: Boundary cases of other-initiated repair. Discourse Processes 23 (3): 499–545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638539709545001
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language 53 (2): 361–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/413107
Schopler, E., Reichler, R., Bashford, A., Lansing, M. and Marcus, L. (1990). Psychoeducational Profile Revised (PEP-R). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Seedhouse, P. (2004). The Interactional Architecture of the Language Classroom: A Conversation Analytic Perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Selting, M. (1996). Prosody as an activity-type distinctive cue in conversation: The case of so-called ‘astonished’ questions in repair initiation. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation, 231–270. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Simon, N. (1975). Echolalic speech in childhood autism: Consideration of possible underlying loci of brain damage. Archives of General Psychiatry 32 (11): 1439–1446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760290107013
Sinclair, J. and Coulthard, R. M. (1975). Toward an Analysis of Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sorjonen, M.-L. (1996). Repeats and responses in Finnish conversations. In E. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff and S. A. Thompson (eds) Interaction and Grammar, 277–327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sorjonen, M.-L. (2001). Responding in Conversation: A Study of Response Particles in Finnish. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Stivers, T. (2005). Modified repeats: One method for asserting primary rights from second position. Research on Language and Social Interaction 38 (2): 131–158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3802_1
Stribling, P., Rae, J. and Dickerson, P. (2007). Two forms of spoken repetition in a girl with autism. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 42 (4): 427–444. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13682820601183659
Stribling, P., Rae, J., Dickerson, P. and Dautenhahn, K. (2006). ‘Spelling it out’: The design, delivery and placement of echolalic utterances by a child with an autistic spectrum disorder. Issues in Applied Linguistics 15 (1): 3–32.
Tannen, D. (1989). Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse (Vol. 6). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tarplee, C. (1996). Working on young children’s utterances: Prosodic aspects of repetition during picture labelling. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies, 406–435. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026992099298988
Tarplee, C. and Barrow, E. (1999). Delayed echoing as an interactional resource: A case study of a 3-year-old child on the autistic spectrum. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 13 (6): 449–482.
Wells, B. and Local, J. (2009). Prosody as an interactional resource: A clinical linguistic perspective. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 11 (4): 321–325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549500902960906
Wong, J. (2000) Repetition in conversation: A look at ‘first and second sayings’. Research on Language and Social Interaction 33 (4): 407–424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3304_03
Arminen, I. and Leinonen, M. (2006). Mobile phone call openings: Tailoring answers to personalized summonses. Discourse Studies 8 (3): 339–368. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445606061791
Atkinson, J. M. and Heritage, J. (eds) (1984). Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boersma, P. and Weenink, D. (2012). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 5.3.04, retrieved 12 January 2012 from http://www.praat.org/
Coleman, S. L. and Stedman, J. M. (1974). Use of a peer model in language training in an echolalic child. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 5 (3–4): 275–279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(74)90078-0
Couper-Kuhlen, E. (1996). The prosody of repetition: On quoting and mimicry. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies, 366–405. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992). Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fay, W. H. (1969). On the basis of autistic echolalia. Journal of Communication Disorders 2 (1): 38–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0021-9924(69)90053-7
Fine, J., Bartolucci, G., Ginsberg, G. and Szatmari, P. (1991). The use of intonation to communicate in pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 32 (5): 771–782. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb01901.x
Foxx, R. M., Schreck, K. A., Garito, J., Smith, A. and Weisenberger, S. (2004). Replacing the echolalia of children with autism with functional use of verbal labeling. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities 16 (4): 307–320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10882-004-0688-5
Frith, U. (2003). Autism: Explaining the Enigma (2nd edn). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Goodwin, C. (2007). Participation, stance and affect in the organization of activities. Discourse & Society 18 (1): 53–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926507069457
Haakana, M. (2010). Laughter and smiling: Notes on co-occurrences. Journal of Pragmatics 42 (6): 1499–1512. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.01.010
Hellermann, J. (2003). The interactive work of prosody in IRF exchange: Teacher repetition in feedback moves. Language in Society 32 (1): 79–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404503321049
Heritage, J. (1984a). Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Heritage, J. (1984b). A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 299–345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howlin, P. (1982). Echolalic and spontaneous phrase speech in autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 23 (3): 281–293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ j.1469-7610.1982.tb00073.x
Iivonen, A. (1998). Intonation in Finnish. In D. Hirst and A. Di Cristo (eds) Intonation Systems: A Survey of Twenty Languages, 311–327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G. (1984). On the organization of laughter in talk about troubles. In J. M. Atkin son and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 346–369. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jefferson, G., Sacks, H. and Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Notes on laughter in the pursuit of intimacy. In G. Button and J. R. E. Lee (eds) Talk and Social Organisation, 152–205. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child 2: 217–250.
Karmali, I., Greer, R., Nuzzolo-Gomez, R. and Rivera-Valdes, C. (2005). Reducing palilalia by presenting tact corrections to young children with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behaviour 21 (1): 145–153.
Lerner, G. H. (1995). Turn design and the organization of participation in instructional activities. Discourse Processes 19 (1): 111–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638539109544907
Leslie, A. M. and Frith, U. (1988). Autistic children’s understanding of seeing, knowing and believing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 6 (4): 315–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01104.x
Lovaas, O. L., Schreibman, L. and Koegel, R. L. (1974). A behavior modification approach to the treatment of autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 4 (2): 111–129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02105365
Madden, M. L, Oelschlaeger, M. L. and Damico, J. S. (2002). The conversational value of laughter for a person with aphasia. Aphasiology 16 (12): 1199–1212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687030244000437
Ogden, R. (2004). Non-modal voice quality and turn-taking in Finnish. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and C. Ford (eds) Sound Patterns in Interaction, 29–62. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 57–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Prizant, B. M. (1983). Language acquisition and communicative behavior in autism: Toward an understanding of the ‘whole’ of it. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 48 (3): 296–307.
Prizant, B. M. and Duchan, J. F. (1981). The functions of immediate echolalia in autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 46 (3): 241–249.
Roberts, J. M. A. (1989). Echolalia and comprehension in autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 19 (2): 271–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02211846
Rutter, M. (1970). Autistic children: Infancy to adulthood. Seminars in Psychiatry 2 (4): 435–450.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4): 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist 70 (6): 1075–1095. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.) Georgetown University Roundtable on Language and Linguistics, 71–93. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1986). The routine as achievement. Human Studies 9 (2/3): 111–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00148124
Schegloff, E. A. (1996a). Confirming allusions: Toward an empirical account of action. American Journal of Sociology 102 (1): 161–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/230911
Schegloff, E. A. (1996b). Practices and actions: Boundary cases of other-initiated repair. Discourse Processes 23 (3): 499–545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638539709545001
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language 53 (2): 361–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/413107
Schopler, E., Reichler, R., Bashford, A., Lansing, M. and Marcus, L. (1990). Psychoeducational Profile Revised (PEP-R). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Seedhouse, P. (2004). The Interactional Architecture of the Language Classroom: A Conversation Analytic Perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Selting, M. (1996). Prosody as an activity-type distinctive cue in conversation: The case of so-called ‘astonished’ questions in repair initiation. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation, 231–270. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Simon, N. (1975). Echolalic speech in childhood autism: Consideration of possible underlying loci of brain damage. Archives of General Psychiatry 32 (11): 1439–1446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760290107013
Sinclair, J. and Coulthard, R. M. (1975). Toward an Analysis of Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sorjonen, M.-L. (1996). Repeats and responses in Finnish conversations. In E. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff and S. A. Thompson (eds) Interaction and Grammar, 277–327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sorjonen, M.-L. (2001). Responding in Conversation: A Study of Response Particles in Finnish. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Stivers, T. (2005). Modified repeats: One method for asserting primary rights from second position. Research on Language and Social Interaction 38 (2): 131–158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3802_1
Stribling, P., Rae, J. and Dickerson, P. (2007). Two forms of spoken repetition in a girl with autism. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 42 (4): 427–444. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13682820601183659
Stribling, P., Rae, J., Dickerson, P. and Dautenhahn, K. (2006). ‘Spelling it out’: The design, delivery and placement of echolalic utterances by a child with an autistic spectrum disorder. Issues in Applied Linguistics 15 (1): 3–32.
Tannen, D. (1989). Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse (Vol. 6). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tarplee, C. (1996). Working on young children’s utterances: Prosodic aspects of repetition during picture labelling. In E. Couper-Kuhlen and M. Selting (eds) Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies, 406–435. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026992099298988
Tarplee, C. and Barrow, E. (1999). Delayed echoing as an interactional resource: A case study of a 3-year-old child on the autistic spectrum. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 13 (6): 449–482.
Wells, B. and Local, J. (2009). Prosody as an interactional resource: A clinical linguistic perspective. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 11 (4): 321–325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549500902960906
Wong, J. (2000) Repetition in conversation: A look at ‘first and second sayings’. Research on Language and Social Interaction 33 (4): 407–424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3304_03
Published
2012-04-03
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Korkiakangas, T. K., Rae, J. P., & Dickerson, P. (2012). The Interactional Work of Repeated Talk between a Teacher and a Child with Autism. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 3(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v3i1.1
