Impact of ageing on discourse types: a comparative study

Ageing is associated with a decline in physical, physiological, and cognitive-linguistic abilities, impacting language and social participation. Discourse, a critical aspect of language, involves the integration of phonology, lexicon, syntax, cohesion, and coherence. Examining variations in discourse types is essential for understanding age-related changes and improving language assessment and treatment strategies. Therefore, the present study investigated the effect of ageing on discourse production across different discourse types.

This study recruited 120 neurotypical, Konkani-Kannada bilingual participants. Participants were divided into three age groups: young adults (18-35 years), middle-aged adults (35.1-55 years), and older adults (55.1-70 years). Discourse tasks included picture description, narration, and conversation, conducted in Konkani, their native language. Responses were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the Discourse Analysis Scale. Discourse Quotient was calculated for each task through qualitative analysis.

Significant differences in discourse performance were observed across all three types among the three groups. Additionally, significant differences were noted across discourse types within young, middle, and older adults. However, older adults exhibited a different pattern of performance, performing poorer on picture description compared to the other two types and their counterpart groups.

The study highlights the influence of ageing and task type on discourse production, with older adults facing greater challenges in narrative tasks. These findings emphasize the need for speech-language pathologists to consider the linguistic and cognitive demands of older adults in clinical interventions, enabling the development of more effective language assessment and therapy programs.