CSAD 330 Communication Sampling

for exam 2

communication sampling

a set of data collection methods that allows clinicians to evaluate speech, language, and nonverbal communication skills in naturalistic speaking contexts

what communication sampling can assess

semantics, syntax, social appropriateness, intelligibility, fluency, resonance, and hearing

what semantics/syntax involves

understanding and word use

what social appropriateness involves

pragmatics, extralinguistic and paralinguistic information

extralinguistic information

things like gestures, expressions, etc.

paralinguistic information

things superimposed over linguistic information, like prosody, tone, etc.

what intelligibility involves

speech sounds

what fluency involves

rhythm/flow of speech, tangentials, etc.

what resonance involves

vocal quality

three categories of analyses for communication sampling

nonverbal communication, language, and speech

communicative acts

the big things to look for in nonverbal communication; must have a gaze, body orientation, or gesture, an effect on the other person, convey a message, and be persistent

the different communicative functions for nonverbal communication

request object/action, protest, comment (shows joint attention), greeting/social interaction, request information, provide information, or acknowledgement of a partner’s remark

what to do if a sample appears typical

observe, stress, gather; observe normal communication → stress the system to view when/how it breaks down → gather objective/controlled data to screen or evaluate more robustly

factor effecting the tools/materials you decide to use

the client, their presenting concerns, and what they need/want to be able to do

types of activities/sample to conduct

play, conversation, narrative, expository, and persuasive

standard protocols

should be used in communication sampling; can be found in research articles, transcription databases, and in some standardized tests

areas to considering when gathering a communication sample

semantics, morphosyntax, pragmatics, speech production, speech fluency, vocal quality, and hearing

two primaru reasons to analyze communication samples

to rule out an area of communication and to evaluate areas of primary concern in typical context for that client

possible measurements for pragmatics

types of communication acts, skill at different genres

possible measurements for semantics

types of words (semantic class - nouns, verbs, etc.), clarity of words, variety of words

possible measurements for morphosyntax

MLU, % grammatical correct, % complex utterances

possible measurements for voice

vocal quality measurements

possible measurements for speech production

% consonants correct, patterns of errors (place, manner, mode patterns)

possible measurements for fluency

frequency of dysfluencies, types of dysfluencies

possible measurements for hearing

accuracy of responses, communication breakdowns (when and how often)