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- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(author)
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A comparison between written and spoken narratives in aphasia
- 2009
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In: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 0269-9206 .- 1464-5076. ; 23:7, s. 507-528
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of the present study was to explore how a personal narrative told by a group of eight persons with aphasia differed between written and spoken language, and to compare this with findings from 10 participants in a reference group. The stories were analysed through holistic assessments made by 60 participants without experience of aphasia and through measurement of lexical and syntactic variables. The findings showed that the participants with aphasia generally received lower ratings than the reference group, but also that stories written by participants with aphasia were rated as easier to understand, more interesting, and more coherent than the group’s spoken stories. Regression analysis showed that syntax could predict several of the rated variables for the stories told by the participants with aphasia. Results point to the need to include writing training in language rehabilitation in order to increase the ability for persons with aphasia to participate in communicative situations in everyday life.
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| 2. |
- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(author)
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A comparison of Written and Spoken Narratives in Aphasia.
- 2011
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In: the 12th International Conference of the EARLI Special Interest Group on Writing, 8th to 10th of September 2010, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Early research in aphasiology seemed to view writing as written speech, implying that the symptoms would be the same in written and spoken output. However, different patterns for how difficulties are manifested in written versus spoken language have since been observed. The impressions from untrained readers add an important perspective to clinicians in how patients are able to participate in everyday life outside the clinical setting. Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore how a personal narrative told by a group of persons with aphasia differed between written and spoken language, and to compare this with findings from narratives told by participants in a reference group. Method: Eight participants with aphasia and ten participants with no neurological disorder were asked to take part in the project. The participants produced a free narration entitled ‘I have never been so afraid’, first in a written version and then also in a spoken version. The stories were analysed through holistic assessments made by 60 participants without earlier experience of aphasia and through measurement of lexical and syntactic variables. Results: The untrained readers and listeners rated the stories told by the referencegroup higher than the stories told by the participants with aphasia. The written stories made by the persons with aphasia were however rated as easier to understand, more interesting and more coherent than their spoken versions. Regression analysis revealed that the length of the stories (number of words) and word-level errors were to some extent predicting factors of the ratings, but interestingly enough not necessarily in the sense that longer and more correctly spelled stories were always rated higher. Discussion: The results showed that the impression of a written text is probably due to a very complicated network of variables. For persons suffering from aphasia it is important that they are offered language rehabilitation that includes written language. However, results also indicates that the goals for writing training have to be set individually and that more factors except spelling has to be considered when planning therapy.
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| 3. |
- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Aphasia and Computerised Writing Aid Supported Treatment
- 2009
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In: Aphasiology. - London : Psychology Press. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 23:10, s. 1276-1294
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background:Individuals with aphasia often experience difficulties in writing. Word processors with a spell checker and a grammar checker can compensate for some of the writing difficulties associated with aphasia.Aims:To determine if writing difficulties associated with aphasia may be reduced by the use of a computerised writing aid when training patients.Methods & Procedures:The writing aids used in this study were originally designed specifically for persons with developmental reading and writing difficulties and are based on statistics of frequent misspellings and phonotactic rules. Three participants with aphasia selected one of two offered writing aids. Written production during treatment and evaluation was recorded and analysed by keystroke logging. The study had a single-subject ABA design replicated across three participants. The baseline (A) was established by measuring four dependent variables. During a 9-week intervention phase (B) the dependent variables were measured once a week. A follow-up (A) was done 10 months after the training was finished. The dependent variables were: total number of words in a writing task; proportion of correctly written words; words per minute; proportion of successful edits. The results were analysed both visually and by statistical calculations. Outcomes & Results:All participants experienced a positive improvement in their writing ability. Results showed individual differences; after completed training the first participant made more successful edits, the second wrote more words, had a larger proportion of correctly written words, and made more successful edits. The third participant's results did not show any improvement that could be statistically supported.Conclusions:This study showed that the computerised training facilitated the generating process and made the revision process more efficient for the participants. The results are important in that they indicate possible ways of designing writing treatment. However, they also show the need for careful analyses when evaluating different treatment strategies and in discussing what improved writing ability may be.
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| 4. |
- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Aphasia and text writing
- 2010
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In: International journal of language and communication disorders. - New York, NY : John Wiley & Sons. - 1368-2822 .- 1460-6984. ; 45:2, s. 230-243
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background:Good writing skills are needed in almost every aspect of life today, and there is a growing interest in research into acquired writing difficulties. Most of the findings reported so far, however, are based on words produced in isolation. The present study deals with the production of entire texts.Aims:The aim was to characterize written narratives produced by a group of participants with aphasia.Methods & Procedures:Eight persons aged 28–63 years with aphasia took part in the study. They were compared with a reference group consisting of ten participants aged 21–30 years. All participants were asked to write a personal narrative titled ‘I have never been so afraid’ and to perform a picture-based story-generation task called the ‘Frog Story’. The texts were written on a computer.Outcome & Results: The group could be divided into participants with low, moderate, and high general performance, respectively. The texts written by the participants in the group with moderate and high writing performance had comparatively good narrative structure despite indications of difficulties on other linguistic levels.Conclusions & Implications:Aphasia appeared to influence text writing on different linguistic levels. The impact on overall structure and coherence was in line with earlier findings from the analysis of spoken and written discourse and the implication of this is that the written modality should also be included in language rehabilitation.
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| 5. |
- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Aphasia and the Process of Revision in Writing a Text
- 2008
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In: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 0269-9206 .- 1464-5076. ; 22:2, s. 95-110
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most of the previous research on aphasia and writing ability concentrates on the production of words in isolation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the process of producing written texts by clients with aphasia. By using keystroke logging, it was possible to analyse the participants' ongoing work during text writing. Results showed that the participants with aphasia composed their texts in what may be described as a linear way. Edits concerning syntax or text structure were almost absent in the subjects' data, but they spent much time and effort on revising smaller units of text, that is, letters and words, possibly as a result of changing their minds or not being able to realize their intentions. However, these changes did not always result in correctly written words in the final text. The findings are discussed in relation to current writing theories.
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| 7. |
- Johansson, Charlotte, 1983, et al.
(author)
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Writing personal narratives with aphasia
- 2015
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In: Stem-, Spraak- en Taalpathologie. 16th International Science of Aphasia Conference. Sept. 17-22 2015, Aveiro, Portugal.. - 0924-7025. ; 20:1, s. 67-69
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Aphasia is an acquired language disorder most often caused by stroke. It can entail difficulties finding words, formulating sentences and understanding spoken language. In most individuals with aphasia, the ability to read and write is affected. Given the increasing importance of reading and writing in modern society, both professionally and socially, this significantly reduces their quality of life and their participation in daily life. Most research into aphasia and writing has examined writing and spelling at word level only. To obtain a full picture of someone’s writing ability, not only the final text but also the process leading up to it must be studied. Keystroke-logging software allows text production to be studied as it unfolds in real time. This makes it possible to analyse writing behaviour based on, for example, patterns of pauses and revisions. The present study is part of a larger study to investigate aphasia and the writing process with a focus on syntax in written narratives. Methods Participants The participants were 18 adults (fourteen men and four women aged 53–92) with post-stroke aphasia, recruited through speech and language pathologists and local aphasia associations. Besides the presence of post-stroke aphasia, the criteria for inclusion were for the participants to be adults with Swedish as their first language. The exclusion criterion was a history of developmental reading and writing impairment or any other neurological disabilities that could affect participation in the study. There was also a reference group whose participants did not suffer from stroke or aphasia but were otherwise selected using the same inclusion and exclusion criteria as the participants in the aphasia group. The participants wrote their personal narratives on computers. Data were collected using the ScriptLog keystroke-logging software. The topic for the narrative was, ‘The last time I made someone happy’, which was written on the screen as memory support. There was no time limit for the writing task. A researcher was present during the writing but did not in any way elicit or influence the writing or typing. The subsequent analyses were based on the following parameters: total time on task; active writing time as a percentage of total time on task; number of pauses within words; number of words in the final text; and number of spelling mistakes. The results were compared with the (preliminary) results of the reference group. Results The analysis of 18 participants’ narratives showed that writing is a far more time-consuming task for the participants with aphasia than for those without. The participants with aphasia produced significantly shorter narratives but spent significantly more time on the task, meaning that their percentage of active writing time was significantly lower than that of the reference group. Further, the number of pauses within words was significantly higher for the participants with aphasia. Frequent pausing within words may indicate that a writer lacks automatised spelling ability. The writers with aphasia made few revisions, or none at all, and they made mainly local revisions (where the cursor is not moved across several words, sentences or paragraphs). The participants in the reference group, by contrast, made more revisions, and these were more likely to be long-distance ones. Finally, the narratives produced by the participants with aphasia contained few spelling mistakes. Discussion The results illustrate the difficulties faced by people with aphasia when writing narratives. To them, this is a time-consuming and effortful task. The narratives written by the participants with aphasia are conspicuously short compared with those of the reference group. The finding that the narratives produced by the people with aphasia generally have good spelling further emphasises the importance of examining the entire writing process rather than just the final text when it comes to people with aphasia. It should be added that a dictation task (which has been used in earlier research) does not seem to reveal the difficulties with functional writing that are apparent in a narrative task. Many of the participants commented themselves that spelling took so much effort that they tended to ‘lose track’ and found it difficult to complete the narrative task.
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