Creating Meaning through the Coordination of Gaze Direction and Arm/hand Movement

AbstractThis study is an investigation of the practice of achieving shared understanding in Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC) using natural modes. The interaction between a girl with severe speech and physical impairment (SSPI) and moderate intellectual disability and her everyday communication partners is explored. The aims are to investigate how the participants create meaning through the girl's coordination of gaze direction and arm/hand movements and vocalizations, as they occur in natural interaction with everyday communication partners. The principles of conversation analysis (CA) were used to record, transcribe and analyse the interaction. The analysis demonstrates that the participants collaboratively create local meaning in and through the coordination of gaze and arm/hand movement. Thus, the speaking co-participants ascribe meaning to the girl's actions of directing gaze and arm/hand movement at the same target. The analysis shows that the ascription of a specific meaning is context-specific. These findings highlight the importance of taking into account all interaction-relevant modalities and the relevance of systematic details in the micro-context of interaction when looking for processes of sense-making. In addition, the role of the communication partner is emphasized. These findings may have implications for clinical intervention.KEYWORDS: ASCRIBED INTENTION; GAZE DIRECTION AND ARM/HAND MOVEMENT; INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY; INTERACTION; SEVERE SPEECH AND PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT1. IntroductionThe overarching aim of this study is to investigate communication between a girl with severe speech and physical impairment (SSPI) and an intellectual disability and her everyday communication partners in everyday settings. It explores how the communication partners treat the girl's coordination of gaze and arm/hand movement as a method of creating meaning. The girl has cerebral palsy. She is unable to speak Previous researchers have stated that, when a person cannot speak, an inevitable consequence is that other resources play a more important role (Kraat 1985; Collins and Markova 1995; von Tetzchner et al. 1996; Olsson 2004; Streeck 2009). In addition, a motor disability prevents the usual production of gestures and other movements (Tucker and Kretschmer 1999; Clarke 2004). Usually, gestures are produced to accompany speech (Streeck 2009); however this is not the case in the present study.The study scrutinizes the following issues: How do the participants achieve meaning? What actions do they accomplish? What does it look like when the participants ascribe meaning to the actions? The coordination of gaze direction and arm/hand movement will be shown to be a method that the participants employ to achieve shared understanding. I will demonstrate and discuss how the participants (with and without impairment) create meaning of the action accomplished by the coordination described in specific contexts.The present study is carried out taking a dialogical! interactionist perspective, using Conversation analysis (CA) (Heritage 1984; Hutchby and Wooffitt 2008). From this approach, the interaction is seen as being collaboratively achieved by the participants. Hence, communication partners are considered to create meaning together. Meaning is created between people and emerges dynamically over time and is therefore never fixed in advance.In order to shed light on the phenomena that are the focus of the present article, we will now briefly look at previous research in some closely related areas.Studies (in spoken interaction) on gesture have been undertaken by several researchers (e.g. Kendon 2004; Goodwin 1981; Streeck and Hartge 1992). From an interactional perspective, gestures are a form of human practice and can be defined as communicative action of the hands (Streeck 2009). Some researchers also include other body parts in the definition of gesture (Kendon 2004). In the present study the term bodily action is used when referring to communicative action by the hands, gestures, and other communicative body movement. …