Conversational Skills in Closed Head Injury: Part 1

Abstract

Traditional studies have focussed on the semantic, syntactic and phonological skills of individuals with Closed Head Injury (CHI) and indicated that these skills recover to a sufficient level for conversation. The conversational skills of individuals with CHI have been mentioned in many studies but no study has provided a detailed overview of the types of conversational errors which might be found. In addition, the types of tasks used to collect the conversational data and the system of analysis may influence the types of “errors” identified. This study, the first in a series, attempted to provide a general description of the types of conversational errors in CHI. Eleven adults aged between 16;0–40;0 were involved in a series of conversational tasks to collect samples. The tasks included: answering questions, picture description, relating a self-generated account of a memorable experience, describing sequences and answering a series of open-ended questions. All tasks were audiotaped. Conversations were transcribed and analysed using Damico's (1985) conversational analysis system. The type and frequency of conversational errors across the tasks are described. Implications for future research are made.