Olness Gloria Streit, Matteson Samuel E, Stewart Craig T
University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.
Aphasiology. 2010;24(6-#0082118):697-708. doi: 10.1080/02687030903438524. Epub 2010 Apr 27.
A central purpose of narration is to convey one's point of view about a narrated event. One's expressed evaluation of a narrated event (modalising behaviour) is often differentiated from one's expression of the sequence of events proper (referential behaviour). Modalising and referential language may be dissociated in aphasia, with modalising language relatively preserved. Use of narrative evaluative devices is one way to modalise, transmit significance, or assign prominence to information in narratives.
This study examines the frequency of use, co-occurrence, and distribution of multiple evaluative devices in the personal narratives of speakers with aphasia, as compared to that of narratives produced by demographically similar speakers without aphasia.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: Participants were 33 demographically matched, English-speaking, middle-aged adults. Of these, 17 had aphasia, and 16 had no neurological disorder. Each group included similar proportions of three demographic subgroups: African-American males, African-American females, and Caucasian females. Each participant told a personal narrative of a frightening experience. Narrative evaluative devices in the narratives were analysed for their frequency, co-occurrence, and distribution in the narrative structure.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The frequency of use of narrative evaluative devices, their co-occurrence, and their distribution in the narrative structure were similar for narratives of individuals with and without aphasia, unless narrative structure was compromised, e.g., in narrators with relatively more severe aphasia.
The relatively intact ability of individuals with aphasia to assign prominence to information in narratives once again raises questions on the neurological underpinnings of modalising language. The clinical potential for assessment and treatment that incorporates narrative evaluative devices needs to be further explored.
叙事的一个核心目的是传达对所叙述事件的个人观点。一个人对所叙述事件的明确评价（模态化行为）通常与对事件本身顺序的表达（指称行为）有所不同。模态化语言和指称语言在失语症中可能会分离，其中模态化语言相对保留。使用叙事评价手段是在叙事中对信息进行模态化、传递意义或赋予突出地位的一种方式。
本研究考察了失语症患者个人叙事中多种评价手段的使用频率、共现情况和分布，并与人口统计学特征相似的非失语症患者所产生的叙事进行比较。
参与者为33名在人口统计学上匹配的讲英语的中年成年人。其中，17人患有失语症，16人没有神经系统疾病。每组包括三个在人口统计学上的亚组，比例相似：非裔美国男性、非裔美国女性和白人女性。每位参与者讲述了一次可怕经历的个人叙事。分析叙事中的评价手段在叙事结构中的频率、共现情况和分布。
无论有无失语症，个人叙事中评价手段的使用频率、共现情况及其在叙事结构中的分布都是相似的，除非叙事结构受到损害，例如在失语症相对严重的叙述者中。
失语症患者在叙事中赋予信息突出地位的能力相对完好，这再次引发了关于模态化语言神经基础的问题。需要进一步探索将叙事评价手段纳入评估和治疗的临床潜力。
