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I S S U E N O . 55 [April 2015]
Peter Auer &
Ina Hörmeyer
Achieving intersubjectvity in
Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC): Intercorporeal, embodied and
disembodied practices
In this paper we investigate communication which includes
the use of computer-based speech aids by people with severe cerebral palsy
(Augmented and Alternative Communication, AAC). The reduced bodily
capacities and the 'uncontrolled bodies' of the participants suffering from
CP make bodily synchronization with their partners a considerable challenge.
What is more, the electronic speech aid not only produces a disembodied
language (synthetic speech), but also has a massive impact on the mutual
corporeal attunement of the participants. It slows down the production of
turns to such a degree that sequential structure – and hence also mutual
understanding – are in danger of being destroyed, and it brings about the
Augmented/Alternative Communicator's withdrawal from the ongoing focused
interaction. It will be shown that these detrimental effects of AAC can lead
to a breakdown in temporal, sequential and topical structure, and to
interactional failure and lack of understanding. However, we will also be
shown that there are ways to overcome these risks. On the one hand, the
negative impact of the 'talking machine' can be minimized when the user
reduces the time needed to output speech by refraining from putting together
complex utterances; this strategy requires co-participants' willingness and
competence to integrate the machine-produced semantic hint into a sequence
of 'post-processing'. Another way of meeting the challenges and risks of a
'talking machine' is a 'moderator' who channels and controls
co-participants' activities despite the Augmented/Alternative Communicator's
focus on the machine, even during the production of a complex utterance. In
both ways, the machine can be 'embodied', and the interaction can – despite
CP – become an 'intercorporeal' one.
Keywords: Augmented /Alternative Communication, intersubjectivity,
intercorporeality, embodiment, multimodal conversation analysis
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