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'You sometimes get more than you ask for': responses in referential communication between children and adolescents with cochlear implant and hearing peers.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	'You sometimes get more than you ask for': responses in referential communication between children and adolescents with cochlear implant and hearing peers.
Authors:	Sandgren, Olof¹ (AUTHOR), Ibertsson, Tina¹ (AUTHOR), Andersson, Richard² (AUTHOR), Hansson, Kristina¹ (AUTHOR), Sahlén, Birgitta¹ (AUTHOR)
Source:	International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Jul2011, Vol. 46 Issue 4, p375-385. 11p. 2 Charts, 1 Graph.
Subject Terms:	Adolescence, Child behavior, Comparative studies, Conversation, Discourse analysis, Experimental design, Help-seeking behavior, Data analysis, *Control groups, Cochlear implants, Sound recordings, Statistics, Affinity groups, Social context, Medical coding
Geographic Terms:	Sweden
Abstract:	Background: This study investigates responses to requests for clarification in conversations between children/adolescents with cochlear implant (CI) and normally hearing peers. Earlier studies have interpreted a more frequent use of requests of confirmation (yes/no interrogatives) in the CI group as a conversational strategy used to prevent communication breakdowns and control the development of the conversation. This study provides a continuation of this line of research, now focusing on responses to requests for clarification. Aims: The aim was to examine the type and distribution of responses to requests for clarification in a referential communication task. In addition, we analysed the compliance between the type of response and the type of request as a measure of mutual adaptation. Methods & Procedures: Twenty-six conversational pairs aged 10-19 years participated: 13 pairs consisting of a child/adolescent with CI (CI) and a conversational partner (CIP); and 13 pairs consisting of a normally hearing control (NH) and a conversational partner (NHP). The pairs performed a referential communication task requiring the description of faces. All occurrences of requests for clarification and their responses in the dialogues were identified and categorized. We also analysed how the different types of requests and responses were combined and the type-conformity of the responses to requests for confirmation. Outcomes & Results: The results showed no significant group differences regarding type, distribution or type-conformity of responses. In all four groups (CI, CIP, NH and NHP), a discrepancy between the request and the response was found, indicating that the response provided information that was not explicitly requested. Requests for confirmation constituted 78-90% of the requests, whereas only 54-61% of responses were confirmations. Conversely, the proportion of requests for elaboration was 6-15%, whereas the proportion of elaborated responses was 34-40%. Conclusions & Implications: The children/adolescents with CI contribute equally to the conversation regarding type and distribution of responses to requests for clarification. The frequent use of elaborated responses indicates common ground for the conversational partners and a shared understanding of the objective of the task. The context creates facilitative conditions, with positive interactional consequences. The results have implications for the design of intervention, where tasks such as this can be used to make children with CI more aware of the role of questioning strategies in interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Background: This study investigates responses to requests for clarification in conversations between children/adolescents with cochlear implant (CI) and normally hearing peers. Earlier studies have interpreted a more frequent use of requests of confirmation (yes/no interrogatives) in the CI group as a conversational strategy used to prevent communication breakdowns and control the development of the conversation. This study provides a continuation of this line of research, now focusing on responses to requests for clarification. Aims: The aim was to examine the type and distribution of responses to requests for clarification in a referential communication task. In addition, we analysed the compliance between the type of response and the type of request as a measure of mutual adaptation. Methods & Procedures: Twenty-six conversational pairs aged 10-19 years participated: 13 pairs consisting of a child/adolescent with CI (CI) and a conversational partner (CIP); and 13 pairs consisting of a normally hearing control (NH) and a conversational partner (NHP). The pairs performed a referential communication task requiring the description of faces. All occurrences of requests for clarification and their responses in the dialogues were identified and categorized. We also analysed how the different types of requests and responses were combined and the type-conformity of the responses to requests for confirmation. Outcomes & Results: The results showed no significant group differences regarding type, distribution or type-conformity of responses. In all four groups (CI, CIP, NH and NHP), a discrepancy between the request and the response was found, indicating that the response provided information that was not explicitly requested. Requests for confirmation constituted 78-90% of the requests, whereas only 54-61% of responses were confirmations. Conversely, the proportion of requests for elaboration was 6-15%, whereas the proportion of elaborated responses was 34-40%. Conclusions & Implications: The children/adolescents with CI contribute equally to the conversation regarding type and distribution of responses to requests for clarification. The frequent use of elaborated responses indicates common ground for the conversational partners and a shared understanding of the objective of the task. The context creates facilitative conditions, with positive interactional consequences. The results have implications for the design of intervention, where tasks such as this can be used to make children with CI more aware of the role of questioning strategies in interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	14606984
DOI:	10.3109/13682822.2010.507617