Other-initiation of repair by speakers with mild to severe hearing impairment

Hearing impairment is a common chronic condition in middle-aged and elderly adults. The number of individuals with hearing impairment is expected to rise because of the longer life expectancies and trends in the population growth. Acquired hearing impairment in adulthood is not just a disorder of the sense of hearing. It is primarily a social disability because its handicapping effect is experienced in interaction with other people. This paper aims to explore how the repair of problems in hearing is initiated by hearing-impaired individuals with acquired mild to severe hearing impairment. By using the method of conversation analysis (CA), this paper examines the occurrence of other-initiations of repair (OIR) and how it is typically resolved in actual mundane interaction. In addition, this paper reveals the challenges and the impact of hearing impairment as the state of hearing deteriorates. This article argues that the frequency of OIR in mild hearing impairment does not differ from normally hearing individuals. However, in a more severe grade of hearing impairment, the OIR sequences are longer, more frequent, multimodal and may require more vigilance from the normally-hearing conversation partner. Implications for counselling are suggested.