2019 Volume 39 Issue 3 Pages 294-299
It is generally known that persons with aphasia often retain their pragmatic ability despite their language functional disorder. The author tried to analyze the discourse of aphasic persons engaged in group sessions in order to visualize the communication competence of participants in sessions focusing on their pragmatic ability. The study subjects consisted of 4 persons belonging to the “mild-moderate” group and 6 persons to the “mild” group. The task was conversation for making a barbecue plan. The taped conversation of 2 groups were transcribed, from which 5-minute transcriptions were extracted and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The pragmatic ability of aphasic persons was assessed using the Japanese Version of the Pragmatic Rating Scale. The quantitative analysis found that members of the mild group actively communicated with each other compared to the mild-moderate group. The results of qualitative analysis showed a difference between the two groups about intended reference involved in speech. In the pragmatic rating, high scores indicated a high appearance ratio of symptoms while low scores indicated a low appearance ratio of symptoms. It seemed that the former symptoms were associated with language dysfunction caused by aphasia, and the latter suggested cognitive retention. In the context of assessment of communication skills of persons with aphasia, the findings suggest that pragmatic measurement is very important as well as formal functioning aspects of language ability.
