Conversational Behaviors of
Individuals with HL
Audiological Rehabilitation
Improving Effective
Communication Improves
Quality of Life!!
Factors for Successful
Communication
 Effectiveness
of their listening
device
 Lipreading skills
 Amount of residual hearing
 Good use of communication
strategies
Conversation
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There are many reasons why we engage in
conversations
There are implicit rules of conversation that
should be followed
Communication with a person who has a HL
may involve modified or adapted rules of
conversation
– These modifications may lead to interruptions,
increased conversational effort and
misunderstandings
Rules of Conversation
Agree to share one another’s interest
 Share the responsibility of talking
 Participate in choosing and developing
the topic
 Turn taking
 Keep true to the topic
 Provide information without being
verbose
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Rules of Conversation - Modified
Disruption of turn taking
 Speaking style
 Topic shifts
 Modified topic selection
 Clarifications
 Violation of social etiquette
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Communication Strategies
 Facilitative
Strategies
 Repair Strategies
 Maladaptive Strategies
Factors That Influence
Reception of a Spoken Message

The Talker
– Delivery with appropriate speaking behaviors
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The Message
– Use of simple, repetitive short sentences
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The Environment
– Quiet, well-lit areas with a good view of the
speaker
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The Listener
– Appropriate use of amplification, attention to the
speaker and a good emotional state
Facilitative Strategies
 Strategies
that influence the Talker
– Instructional Strategies
 Strategies
Message
that influence the
– Message-Tailoring Strategies
Facilitative Strategies, cont’d
 Strategies
that influence the
Environment
– Constructive Strategy
 Strategies
Listener
that influence the
– Adaptive Strategy
– Attending Strategy
– Anticipatory Strategy
Receptive Repair Strategies
Repeat repair strategy
 Request for information repair strategy
 Key word repair strategy
 Elaborate repair strategy
 Extended repair strategy
 Specific vs Non-specific repair strategies
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Maladaptive Strategies
Dominating the Conversation
 Bluffing
 Withdrawal
 Becoming increasingly anxious
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Stages in Repairing a
Communication Breakdown
 Stage
1
– Detection of a communication
breakdown
 Stage
2
– Dealing with a communication
breakdown
Repair Strategy
 Bluff
 Disregard Utterance
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Conversational Styles

Passive
Non-Interactive
– Withdraws from conversations and
interactions rather than attempting repair
strategies
Aggressive
Dominating
– Blames others for the misunderstanding
Interactive
 Assertive
– Takes responsibility for the communication
difficulties in a way that is considerate of
communication partner
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Research: Specific Vs.
Nonspecific Repair Strategies
Which repair strategies are used most
commonly?
 What happens after a repair strategy is
used?
 What is the drawback to using
nonspecific repair strategies?
 Which strategy will most likely lead to
understanding of a message?
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Research: Who Uses Repair
Strategies?
 Familiar
Vs. Unfamiliar Partners
 What are the attitudes of those
who use communication strategies?
 Who is least likely to use repair
strategies?
– Lower levels of education
– Sudden HL
– Receive minimal benefit from HA
What Are the Important
Components of an
AR Program?
Practice in using specific repair
strategies
 Practice using communication strategies
with familiar and unfamiliar persons
 Increase the amount of training for
persons with sudden hearing loss and
those who are receiving minimal benefit
from listening devices
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