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Using the framework of conversation analysis, this paper examinesaided-speaking students’ unsolicited speech-generating device(SGD)-mediated questions in teacher-fronted classroom talk. Theanalysis draws on a corpus of 18 h of video-recorded classroominteractions including 23 aided-speaking students using SGDs orpicture-based communication boards. In all, 5% of the students’contributions were unsolicited questions, produced by three students.The students were found to orient to turn transition relevanceplaces, but due to prolonged production time their questionsrisked sequential and topical misplacement in the ongoing classroomtalk and were vulnerable to misunderstandings. To addressthis problem, students activated the synthetic voice before finalisingthe question, claiming the interactional floor while securingtime to complete their utterance. They also refrained from activatingthe synthetic voice and instead made the question visuallyavailable for the teacher to read, thereby transferring the responsibilityfor answering the question to the teacher when sequentiallyand topically relevant. The study demonstrates the complex interactionalprocess of formulating SGD-mediated questions, sometimesrequiring that the teacher, assistants, and students engagein repair work and scaffolding to establish the meaning ofa student’s utterance. The findings imply that the treatment of nonspeakingstudents’ contributions as questions requires designatedteacher work.

This study examines the displayed communicative competence and agency of a non-speaking student at a compulsory school for children with severe learning disabilities. The use of two different speech-generating devices (a single-message versus a multi-message speech-generating device) and the assignment of participation role (having the role of 'student' or 'teacher') were compared in two morning meetings. The two interactional sequences 'question-answers' and 'repair actions' were chosen because they provide participants with opportunities to display communicative competence and agency. The analysis showed that the displayed communicative competence and agency of the non-speaking student differed in relation to the kind of speech-generating device and the associated participatory role. Furthermore, the displayed communicative competence and agency was a product of the close collaboration between the student and the assistant and teachers who scaffolded the process. The study shows that teachers and assistants can influence the communicative competence and agency of non-speaking students.

Purpose of Review: Aided AAC modeling is an umbrella term for when communication partners model language on an aided AAC system to support an individual’s comprehension and/or communication development. This scoping review aims to provide an overview of aided AAC modeling studies targeting individuals with emergent communication and describing features and findings from these studies. Recent Findings: Research on interventions that includes aided AAC modeling is growing. Recent studies cover interventions for individuals that previously were excluded, such as individuals who use alternative access methods to select symbols. Summary: A search yielded 29 studies that encompassed a total of 237 participants using emergent communication. Positive outcomes from the aided AAC modeling interventions were reported in the majority of the studies. In future research, a clear description of the different components of the interventions and their expected effect on the outcome may assist in comparing the effect of different types of aided AAC modeling interventions.

This study examines recent changes in Swedish regulations for child maintenance in relation to post-separation families with experiences of either intimate partner violence (IPV) or conflict. The reform limited the possibility to rely on the state for maintenance in cases of cooperation difficulties. For IPV cases, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) can function as an intermediary between parents, but such exceptions are made upon assessment and require disclosure of IPV. This study investigates consequences of the maintenance reform and the ways in which it may re-actualize conflict and IPV between separated parents. Data consist of 649 recorded phone calls (~ 55 h) to the SSIA concerning maintenance. Disclosures of post-separation conflict or IPV were found in 132 of these calls; these calls were analyzed using thematic analysis. The maintenance reform’s requirement to reinstate contact with a former partner can re-actualize experiences of parental conflict as well as IPV by (a) re-surfacing physical or psychological abuse; (b) continued or accelerated cooperative difficulties; (c) renewed financial control; and (d) ‘paper abuse’ and new possibilities to display diligence or exert camouflaged control. This can take the form of explicit acts of abuse, anxiety or concern caused by the renewed contact, or being forced to deal with difficult memories. We argue that the Swedish maintenance reform ignores the reality of parental conflicts and IPV by re-actualizing such experiences in a range of ways.

Since 2016, separated parents in Sweden are expected to pay child maintenance directly to each other unless special reasons, such as intimate partner violence (IPV), can be invoked. Problems with maintenance payments, which may involve expressions of financial abuse, have become a common topic in interactions between parents and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) that handles these cases.

This article examines 132 phone calls to the SSIA and the results show that payment problems are typically framed as relating to inability or negligence, and not as possible indications of abuse. This highlights the need for training and capacity building regarding IPV in the Swedish welfare state.

Being able to respond to and ask questions in teacher-fronted classroom talk is important for learning and assessment, as well as for student participation and social inclusion. About 8% of all students have a developmental language disorder and a subgroup even lack speech (Norbury et al., 2016). For those students, a speech-generating device (SGD) can be used to replace speech. SGDs provide students with enhanced opportunities to participate both in education and leisure time contexts. Despite the huge advantage that an SGD may offer, research shows that SGDs are seldom used in multiparty classroom talk. When they are used, a supportive environment is required, including for example teachers’ scaffolding practices (Tegler, Demmelmaier, Blom Johansson, & Norén, 2020). 

The aim of this study is to generate knowledge on interactional practices, organizations, and vocabulary that facilitate student-initiated (Waring, 2011) SGD-mediated questions in teacher-fronted classroom interaction. Specifically, we are interested in SGD-mediated student questions that are not preceded by an invitation or prompt from the teacher. 

The theoretical framework and methodology of ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA) is used for detailed analysis of question design in multiparty interactions. 

Method: Data comprise of 18 hrs of video recordings of multiparty classroom lessons in nine special schools in Sweden. Twenty-three non-speaking students and their classmates, teachers and assistants participated in the study.

Findings: The analysis shows that of the 233 SGD-mediated contributions that we identified in our data, 11 were student-initiated SGD-mediated questions. These questions were produced by three students. SGD-mediated interaction faces several challenges. First, the production time is prolonged compared to speech, which means that a contribution (e.g. an answer or a question) easily receives a sequentially misplaced position in the ongoing interaction, which may cause misunderstandings. Second, if the student is illiterate someone else has to choose and arrange the vocabulary (e.g. drawn pictures). Having a limited vocabulary increases the risk of producing ambiguous contributions. Against this backdrop, the results of our study are discussed in four parts: (1) the linguistic structure of the contributions, (2) the sequential organization of the contributions within ongoing classroom talk, (3) the contributions’ topical relation to other talk, and (4) their interactional functions. 

Relevance to Nordic educational research: The study examines non-speaking students’ unsolicited SGD-mediated questions in multiparty classroom talk, which is sparsely studied. The study illustrates teachers’ challenges in promoting inclusive education and social inclusion for non-speaking students at the expense of progression and advancement. Furthermore, it contributes knowledge of how teachers with non-speaking students in the classroom, manage several dilemmas as they make “here and now” pedagogical judgements on inclusive practices.

References:

Norbury et al (2016). The impact of nonverbal ability on prevalence and clinical presentation of language disorder: evidence from a population study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(11), 1247-1257. 

Tegler et al (2020). Creating a Response Space in Multiparty Classroom Settings for Students using Eye-gaze Accessed Speech-Generating Devices. Augmentative and alternative communication, 36(4), 203-213. 

Waring (2011). Learner initiatives and learning opportunities in the language classroom. Classroom discourse, 2(2), 201-218.