Neuvonen, K. A., Jagoe, C., Launonen, K., Smith, M. M., & von Tetzchner, S. (2019). Expectations and interpretations of conversations using aided communication: An application of relevance theory. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 10(2), 125–152. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.20364
This study used relevance theory as a framework for analysis of conversations between a 9-year-old female student with cerebral palsy who uses a communication aid and her adult communication partners, including mother and a school aid. Relevance theory posits that when determining meaning, a communication recipient privileges efficiency by selecting the interpretation that is most likely based on available external (e.g., linguistic meaning, situational context) and internal resources (e.g., background knowledge, scripts, expectations). All of the excerpts included multiple attempts of meaning negotiation and communication repair in a video description task that required increasing levels of cognitive demand (e.g., short scenarios of everyday activities to more complicated scenarios of unlikely events with more characters and events). The student demonstrated conceptual and linguistic creativity in constructing her messages, including sequencing object nouns of an expected scenario, selecting symbols with iconic features similar to intended meaning, and selecting symbols to function as metonyms (e.g., Washington for government). The heavy reliance on literal interpretations of symbols and typical expectations associated with scripts was successful for plausible events but resulted in communication breakdowns for unlikely events. To repair communication, the student often used reformulation while the assistant eliminated troubling elements that did not fit with her assumptions. Consistent with relevance theory, her communication partners tended to interpret utterances based on literal interpretations of graphic symbols and the cues or assumptions associated with routines or scripts. Also consistent with relevance theory, is evidence of conservation of effort; the ambiguous nature of AAC-mediated contributions may reflect composition efficiency while the communication partners’ over reliance on literal interpretations and predictable scripting may represent processing efficiency due to the increased cognitive inferencing demands associated with message ambiguity.