DeKlerk Hester M, Dada Shakila, Alant Erna
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
J Commun Disord. 2014 Nov-Dec;52:1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.05.006. Epub 2014 Jun 12.
Speech language pathologists recommend graphic symbols for AAC users to facilitate communication, including labelling and expressing emotions. The purpose of the current study was to describe and compare how 5- to 6-year-old Afrikaans- and Sepedi-speaking children identify and choose graphic symbols to depict four basic emotions, specifically happy, sad, afraid, and angry.
Ninety participants were asked to select the graphic symbol from a 16-matrix communication overlay that would represent the emotion in response to 24 vignettes.
The results of the t-tests indicated that the differences between the two groups' selection of target symbols to represent the four emotions are statistically significant.
The results of the study indicate that children from different language groups may not perceive graphic symbols in the same way. The Afrikaans-speaking participants more often choose target symbols to represent target basic emotions than did the Sepedi-speaking participants. The most preferred symbols per emotion were identified and these different symbols were analysed in terms of facial features that distinguish them.
Readers of this article will (1) recognise the importance of expressing basic emotions for children, particularly those that use AAC, (2) identify the possible limitations of line drawings for expressing and labelling basic emotions in typically developing children and (3) recognise the importance of cultural influences on recognition of basic emotions.
言语语言病理学家为使用辅助沟通系统（AAC）的用户推荐图形符号，以促进交流，包括标记和表达情感。本研究的目的是描述和比较5至6岁讲南非荷兰语和塞佩迪语的儿童如何识别和选择图形符号来描绘四种基本情绪，即快乐、悲伤、恐惧和愤怒。
90名参与者被要求从一个16格的沟通覆盖图中选择能代表对24个小场景所产生情绪的图形符号。
t检验结果表明，两组在选择代表四种情绪的目标符号上的差异具有统计学意义。
研究结果表明，来自不同语言群体的儿童可能不会以相同的方式感知图形符号。讲南非荷兰语的参与者比讲塞佩迪语的参与者更常选择目标符号来代表目标基本情绪。确定了每种情绪最受欢迎的符号，并根据区分它们的面部特征对这些不同的符号进行了分析。
本文读者将（1）认识到表达基本情绪对儿童的重要性，特别是对使用AAC的儿童；（2）识别线条画在表达和标记正常发育儿童基本情绪方面可能存在的局限性；（3）认识到文化影响对基本情绪识别的重要性。
