Managing Breakdowns During Aphasia Conversation Groups

Conversation groups aim to improve communication and well-being in people with aphasia. One critical but often overlooked aspect of group interaction is repair. Group facilitators play an important role in allowing the person with aphasia time to engage in self-repair while also addressing errors to maintain conversation flow. The aim of this study is to understand the facilitator's role during repair sequences, including specific strategies for managing repair on a moment-to-moment basis during aphasia conversation groups.

Data were collected from video-recorded conversation groups. Sessions were transcribed and analyzed through conversation analysis, focusing on sequences that involved repair and how breakdowns were resolved.

Conversation analysis revealed various types of sequences related to word-finding barriers. The facilitator made instant decisions on how and when to aid in repair, balancing the need to help the person with aphasia fix their own errors while also moving the conversation forward. We present six sequences that highlight this decision making, pointing to facilitator strategies that promote both self-repair and progressivity of the conversation.

Our analysis suggests that facilitators must weigh competing priorities of self-repair and progressivity during aphasia groups in real time, attending to multiple aspects of conversation including group engagement. Facilitators appear to adapt actions based upon conversation turns occurring during the repair, including monitoring the understanding of the group as a whole and individual linguistic needs in the moment of repair. These data are integral for training facilitators and enhancing aphasia group conversations.