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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges
Published on: January 26, 2024
Pragmatics in discourse performance: insights from aphasiology
Hanna K Ulatowska1, Gloria Streit Olness
1Callier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.
Abstract:
This article examines the preservation of pragmatic abilities of individuals with aphasia, as manifested in the discourse they produce. The construct of coherence is used as a framework for understanding this pragmatic preservation. Discourse coherence is largely derived from the structure, selection, and highlighting of information expressed in a discourse. Personal narratives, as one type of discourse, represent an extended turn-in-conversation on a topic of personal relevance to the speaker, common in everyday life. As such, they provide a valuable source of information about a speaker's pragmatic ability. Examples of personal narratives told by individuals with aphasia are used to illustrate and discuss the means by which discourse coherence is achieved. These include a tightly structured temporal-causal event line, development of theme, and evaluation of information. Possible approaches to clinical assessment are considered, including use of global rating systems.
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