Yazdanpanah Maziar, Plejert Charlotta, Samuelsson Christina, Jansson Gunilla
Department of Culture and Communication, University of Linköping , Linköping , Sweden.
Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism, Stockholm University , Stockholm , Sweden.
Clin Linguist Phon. 2019;33(12):1103-1124. doi: 10.1080/02699206.2019.1584914. Epub 2019 Aug 6.
Elderspeak refers to adapting one's language to a perceived language decline of an older interlocutor. Earlier studies have explored different features of elderspeak; some of these studies attribute positive outcomes to using elderspeak that facilitates communication, but other studies consider elderspeak a negative way of communicating that should be avoided. The aim of this study is to investigate a largely unexplored feature of elderspeak, namely sound prolongation in a multilingual context. There are five participants in this study: three carers and two care recipients in a residential care unit. The carers and care recipients have limited access to a shared spoken language. The data consist of video- and audio recordings of interaction between the participants. The recordings have been transcribed and analysed in accordance with Conversation Analytical methodology. The analysis shows that the carers use sound prolongation as part of their interactional repertoire in order to manage situations of distress. We conclude that in some distressful situations carers' use of sound prolongation may help mitigating the care recipient's emotional concerns since the source of agitations has been addressed properly. In other situations, the use of sound prolongation may lead to an escalation in distress, if the source of agitation is not addressed adequately. Our results bring to the fore that an interactional practice, such as the use of sound prolongation in the context of expressed distress must be interpreted in relation to the complexity of each and every situation participants find themselves in, their level of understanding, and the task/activity at hand.
老年化语言指的是根据对老年对话者语言能力衰退的认知来调整自己的语言。早期研究探讨了老年化语言的不同特征；其中一些研究将积极结果归因于使用有助于交流的老年化语言，但其他研究则认为老年化语言是一种应避免的消极交流方式。本研究的目的是调查老年化语言一个很大程度上未被探索的特征，即在多语言环境中的声音延长。本研究有五名参与者：一家养老院中的三名护理人员和两名受护者。护理人员和受护者能共同使用的口语有限。数据包括参与者之间互动的视频和音频记录。这些记录已根据会话分析方法进行了转录和分析。分析表明，护理人员将声音延长作为其互动方式的一部分，以应对困境。我们得出结论，在某些困境中，护理人员使用声音延长可能有助于减轻受护者的情绪担忧，因为激动的根源已得到妥善处理。在其他情况下，如果激动的根源没有得到充分解决，使用声音延长可能会导致困境升级。我们的研究结果凸显出，一种互动行为，比如在表达困境的情境中使用声音延长，必须结合参与者所处每种情况的复杂性、他们的理解水平以及手头的任务/活动来进行解读。
