A Cantonese linguistic communication measure

Abstract

Although there has been a longstanding interest in English aphasic speech, studies of Cantonese aphasic narratives have only emerged recently. This paper presents a Cantonese linguistic communication measure (henceforth, CLCM), which is a convenient measure for analysing Cantonese aphasic narratives. Taking into consideration the characteristics of the Cantonese grammar, the lexical diversity, communication efficiency, grammaticality and elaborateness of Cantonese aphasic speech are quantified. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking aphasic patients and 16 control subjects were recruited to carry out a picture description task. The findings indicated that most indices could distinguish between normal and aphasic speakers. Moreover, two indices indicating the length of the narrative and the rate of information conveyed could further discriminilte fluent from non-fluent aphasics. Given the simplicity of index computation, the CLCM may render speech therapists in general clinical settings an objective, quick and convenient means to quantify patients' expressive language abilities.