Lexical repetition as a communicative strategy in Broca's aphasia

This study examines the lexical self- and other-repetition and the strategic use of repetition by two aphasic speakers (J and M) with agrammatic and severe word-finding difficulties in group discussions. Whereas the speakers aphasia profiles were rather similar, as defined by clinical testing (Western Aphasia Battery), their use of lexical repetition as a communicative strategy was significantly different. One speaker (speaker M) had more contextually supported words, especially other-repetitions. M sometimes repeated her own lexical elements and elaborated the repetitions morphologically and prosodically and expanded them syntactically. These elaborated and expanded repetitions were attempts at communicative clarity and grammatical acceptability. After encountering problems in production, speaker M used selfand other-repetition both in affective confirmations and in meaning negotiations. Speaker J, on the other hand, did not attempt to produce grammatical well-formed utterances, but relied on his interlocutors interpretations of his turns. Speaker J did not elaborate or expand his one or two word utterances, but frequently repeated fillers and polite idiomatic phrases. He used more self-repetition, typically in confirmations, to express emotion and in turn keeping, and less other-repetition, which only occurred in negotiations to reach mutual understanding. The methods and results are discussed in the framework of the adaptation theory of agrammatism. We suggest that pathological and communicative repetitions form a continuum and that the study of strategic choices can contribute to the development of communicative speech therapy.