Communication Strategies & Conversational Styles Chapter 7

1. Communication Strategies & Conversational StylesChapter 7 Perry C. Hanavan, Au.D.

2. Belonging, Independence, Mastery, Generosity • “For successful conversation between any two people, there must be mutual interest, cooperation, and sensitivity. For successful conversation between a normal-hearing person and a hearing impaired partner, the same basic requirements exist. Greater time, effort, and awareness may be required, however, to reach the same level of understanding.” NP Erber, 1993, p 109

3. Communication Strategy • A course of action taken to enhance communication • facilitate • repair

4. Communication Training • Instruction provided to a person with a hearing loss to maximize his or her communication potential

5. Conversation • Sharing ideas • Relating experiences • Telling stories • Expressing needs • Instructing • Influencing • Create meaning • Build understanding • Establishing intimacy

6. Conversational Rules • Implicit rules guide the conduct of participants in a conversation • Typically cultural established conventions

7. Rules of Conversation • Agree to share one another’s interests • Ensure all share in talking • Participate in topic • Take turns talking in organized fashion • Try to be relevant to topic discussion • Not too verbose…succinct messages Dr. Sam Trychin

8. Hearing Loss Characteristics • Disrupted turn taking • Modified speaking and listening style • Modified turn taking style • Inappropriate topic shifts • Less rich content • Superficial content • Frequent clarification • Violation of implicit social rules…speech too loud • Disrupted grounding

9. Question • Select the 2 classes of strategies in communication: • Belonging • Facilitative • Mastery • Repair

10. Facilitative instructing, structuring Repair specific tactics Classes of Strategies

11. Reception of Messages Talker Message Environment Listener

12. Facilitative Strategies • Strategies that influence the talker • instructional strategies • the listener asks the talker (communication partner) to change the delivery of the message (assertive) • slow down • it is difficult to lipread when you cover your mouth • could you face me

13. Facilitative Strategies • Strategies that influence the message • Message-tailoring strategies • phrasing remarks to constrain a response of a speaker • Did you go fishing or boating? • Are you afraid of snakes? • Metacognition – considering in one’s mind how to say something • Acknowledgment gesture – listener providing feedback to communication partner via head nod or shake

14. Facilitative Strategies • Strategies that influence the environment • Constructive strategies • tactic designed to optimize the listening environment for communication • Let’s go into the living room to talk • Let’s sit where it is more quiet • Let’s step over here where there is more light • Moving closer to speaker • Avoiding rooms with reverberation • Avoiding places with visual distractions

15. Facilitative Strategy • Strategies that influence reception (listener) • Adaptive strategies • methods of counteracting maladaptive behaviors that stem from hearing loss • relax • taking a deep breath

16. Facilitative Strategy • Strategies that influence reception (listener) • Attending strategies • methods of counteracting maladaptive behaviors that stem from hearing loss • watch the speaker’s lips • focus on the speaker

17. Facilitative Strategy • Strategies that influence reception (listener) • Anticipatory strategies • methods of preparing for a communication interaction • observant of situation clues • makes predictions about message • predicts speakers style

18. Talker Message Environment Listener Instructional Strategy Tailoring Message Acknowledge-ment Strategy Constructive Strategy Adaptive Attending Anticipatory Strategy Facilitative Strategies

19. Instructional Strategies Worksheet (Talker) • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________ • ______________________________

20. Tailoring (Message) Strategy • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________ • ________________________________

21. Constructive Strategies (Environment) • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________ • _______________________________

22. Adaptive, Attending, Anticipatory Strategies (Listener) • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________ • __________________________________

23. Repair Strategies • Communication breakdown • when one communication partner speaks a message and the communication partner does not recognize the message

24. Detecting Communication Breakdown Choose Course of Action Use Repair Strategy Disregard Utterance Bluff

25. Repair Strategies • Receptive repair strategy • tactic used by the listener (with hearing loss) when the message presented by a communication partner is not understood • Expressive repair strategy • strategy used to rectify a communication breakdown that occurs because the person with a hearing loss (speaker) produces an unintelligible utterance

26. Specific Receptive Repair • repeat all or part of message • indicate the topic of conversation • rephrase message • elaborate message • simplify the message • confirm the message • write • fingerspell

27. Question Not an example of a non-specific strategy: • Huh • What • Pardon • I got the first part of the sentence

28. Nonspecific Expressive Repair • What • Huh • Pardon

29. Six Basic Principles of Conversational Repair • ONE: Use of requests for clarification improves understanding between conversational partners (e.g., Tye-Murray, Purdy, Woodworth & Tyler, 1990). • TWO: Specific training in the use of repair strategies is effective (Tye-Murray, 1991). • THREE: Some requests for clarification are considered specific, or contingent (e.g., requests for confirmation) whereas others (e.g., neutral queries) are considered non-specific, or non-contingent (see, Table 2). • FOUR: Contingent requests for clarification are more likely to sustain interaction over multiple turns than non-contingent requests (Kenworthy, 1984). • FIVE: Strategies that elicit rephrasing by the speaker are more likely to repair the communication breakdown (Gagne & Wyllie, 1989). • SIX: Requests for specific clarification are viewed more favorably by the speaker than non-specific requests (Gagne, Stelmacovich, & Yovetich, 1991; Caissie & Gibson, 1997). In other words, both interactants communicate more effectively when more specific, or contingent, repair strategies are employed. (Kenworthy)

30. Patronizing Communication Style with Older Persons • Talking only about restricted topics • Using directive speech • Using childlike expressions • Speaking very slowly • Exaggerating nonverbal signals • Paraphrasing frequently • Decreasing grammatical complexity • Talking about fewer topics

31. Bilingual Children and Repair Most, T. (2003). The use of repair strategies: bilingual deaf children using sign language and spoken language. American Annals of the Deaf. 148:4, 308-314. When using sign, greater diversity in repair strategies were used.

32. You Say, I Say Adjacency pairs: linked speaking turns Hearing Loss PartnerComm. Partner • nonspecific repair strategy- • request for information repair strategy- • confirmation repair strategy- • message repetition response • provide information response • feedback response

33. Topic Shading • When a new emphasis is derived from an ongoing topic of conversation such that the topic remains the same but the relevant details shift • Jan: (has HL) I’m going to Phoenix today. • Rob: Are you flying or driving? • Jan: Flying • Rob: I need to get my tickets for Orlando. • Jan: What?

34. Research • 67% at a family gathering, a party or social meeting likely to pretend (bluffing) to be understanding while keeping quiet • Most individuals ask communication partner to repeat a message verbatim following a communication breakdown rather than other repair strategy • Message restructuring rather than repeating improves understanding • Non-specific repair strategies (huh, what?) beneficial in some contexts

35. Likely to Use Repair Strategies • Those using repair strategies less likely to • feel frustrated with speechreading skills • Avoid social interactions • Those less likely to use repair strategies tend to • Have attained lower levels of educations • Have experienced a sudden hearing loss • Received minimal benefit from their listening devices

36. Mentioning a Hearing Loss • Can be beneficial • May result in conversation center on hearing loss • May be factor why persons with hearing loss reluctant to reveal hearing loss

37. Conversational Styles • Passive conversational style • withdraws, bluffs, avoids • Aggressive conversational style • hostile, belligerent, bad attitude • blames others • denies, dominates, interrupts • Assertive conversational style • takes responsibility for managing communication • respects the rights of their communication partner • openly and honestly expresses needs and emotions

38. Communication Style

39. Communication Style

40. Communication Behaviors • Interactive • assertive communication style • Non-Interactive • passive communication style • Dominating • aggressive communication style Dr. Sam Trychin

41. Assertiveness Training • Key Elements: • Ways to indicate a hearing loss • Means to request a change in the communication environment • Ways to suggest how the communication partner can facilitate the patient’s understanding of spoken messages • Means to provide positive feedback to communication partners to reinforce desirable behaviors

42. Assertiveness Training • STEP ONE: Realize where changes are needed and believe in your rights • STEP TWO: Figure out appropriate ways of asserting yourself in each specific situation that concerns you • Example: • Situation: You have just been introduced to someone, but it is very noisy and it is difficult to understand their speech. • Response: As soon as appropriate, ask, “It is very noisy and I am having difficulty hearing you, can we move where it is quiet? • Poor responses: Let it go and try to avoid situations and say huh and what. An aggressive response would be to blame him/her, "You don't speak up very well, you seem to mumble?"

43. Assertiveness Training • Increase the cooperation between person with hearing loss and communication partner • Ways to indicate a hearing loss “I have a hearing loss and may not understand.” • Ways to request a change in the communication partner “The lights are dim. Could we move to another room.” • Ways to suggest how the communication partner can facilitate understanding of spoken message “It helps me understand if I can see your face.” • Ways to provide positive feedback to communication partners to reinforce desirable behaviors • “I appreciate your talking to me face to face.”

44. Examples • Dr. Sam Trychin • HearWell • Dr. Mark Ross (Assertiveness)

45. Assignment • During the next two days: 1. analyze your communication behavior 2. analyze 2 people you communicate with daily and determine their style 3. select the communication style you prefer others use 4. Read: A Conversational Approach to Aural Rehabilitation