TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kong, Anthony Pak-Hin
A1  - Linnik, Anastasia
A1  - Law, Sam-Po
A1  - Shum, Waisa Wai-Man
T1  - Measuring discourse coherence in anomic aphasia using Rhetorical Structure Theory
JF  - International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
N2  - Purpose: The existing body of work regarding discourse coherence in aphasia has provided mixed results, leaving the question of coherence being impaired or intact as a result of brain injury unanswered. In this study, discourse coherence in non-brain-damaged (NBD) speakers and speakers with anomic aphasia was investigated quantitatively and qualitatively. Method: Fifteen native speakers of Cantonese with anomic aphasia and 15 NBD participants produced 60 language samples. Elicitation tasks included story-telling induced by a picture series and a procedural description. The samples were annotated for discourse structure in the framework of Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) in order to analyse a number of structural parameters. After that 20 naive listeners rated coherence of each sample. Result: Disordered discourse was rated as significantly less coherent. The NBD group demonstrated a higher production fluency than the participants with aphasia and used a richer set of semantic relations to create discourse, particularly in the description of settings, expression of causality, and extent of elaboration. People with aphasia also tended to omit essential information content. Conclusion: Reduced essential information content, lower degree of elaboration, and a larger amount of structural disruptions may have contributed to the reduced overall discourse coherence in speakers with anomic aphasia.
KW  - discourse analysis
KW  - aphasia
KW  - speech-language pathology
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2017.1293158
SN  - 1754-9507
SN  - 1754-9515
VL  - 20
IS  - 4
SP  - 406
EP  - 421
PB  - Routledge
CY  - Abingdon
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Linnik, Anastasia
A1  - Bastiaanse, Roelien
A1  - Höhle, Barbara
T1  - Discourse production in aphasia: a current review of theoretical and methodological challenges
JF  - Aphasiology : an international, interdisciplinary journal
N2  - Background: Discourse abilities play an important role in the assessment, classification, and therapy outcome evaluation of people with aphasia. Discourse production in aphasia has been studied quite extensively in the last 15 years. Nevertheless, many questions still do not have definitive answers.Aims: The aim of this review is to present the current situation in the research on a number of crucial aspects of discourse production in aphasia, focusing on methodological progress and related challenges. This review continues the discussion of the core themes in the field, aiming to render it as up-to-date as possible.Main Contribution: The review focuses on a number of unexplored theoretical issues, specifically, the interface between micro- and macrolinguistic abilities, and the relationship between linguistic competence and communicative success in aphasia. The emphasis on theoretical challenges, along with the thorough discussion of methodological problems in the field, makes this review a starting point and a comprehensive information source for researchers planning to address language production in people with aphasia.Conclusion: Although the picture is not yet complete, recent advancements lead to a better understanding of the processes involved in aphasic discourse production. Different approaches provide insights into the complex multifaceted nature of discourse-level phenomena; however, methodological issues, including low comparability, substantially slow down the progress in the field.
KW  - Discourse production
KW  - aphasia
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2015.1113489
SN  - 0268-7038
SN  - 1464-5041
VL  - 30
SP  - 765
EP  - 800
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -