Improvisation and Communicative Agency: Contribution of an Improvisational Model to the Analysis of Communicative Agency

Introduction: Persons with congenital deafblindness mainly communicate using the bodily tactile modality. Their expressive communication is often formulated by an authentic language that gives the persons with congenital deafblindness low readability towards the rest of the world. This can be an obstacle for the development of their communicative agency. In the present study it is investigated whether a theoretical approach to improvisation can contribute to the development of communicative agency in a person with congenital deafblindness with low readability and authentic language in a dialogical perspective. Method: The study employs a qualitative design conducted as a dialogical single case study. Even though this research is based only on one recording of a communicative encounter between a person with deafblindness and her communication partner, it is assumed that the study can be used as a representative case study for people with low readability and authentic language. A video of communication between a person with CDB and a sighted/hearing communication partner is transcribed and the transcription is analysed in three stages through 1) Conversational analysis (CA), 2) Improvisation analysis and 3) Subjectivity/intersubjectivity analysis. Results: The Conversation analysis proved useful to identify complex turn-taking patterns in the communication. Through the improvisation model it was possible to define the degree of subjectivity/intersubjectivity in every utterance by each participant, as well as how each act was met by the other. With the improvisation model discriminations could be made between the different modalities, as vocal speech and bodily tactile acts. Regarding communicative agency, the model was useful to analyze degrees of self-expression as well as the balance of subjectivity and intersubjectivity between the participants. Conclusion and discussion: The model of improvisation contributed to specify subjectivity/intersubjectivity and multimodality in communication, though it did not contribute to the analysis of turn-taking. The model contributed to the development of communicative agency by pointing to the open-ended outcome for each utterance as the most important factor for developing and sustaining communicative agency. Limitations: The main limitation of this study was that the analyses were performed on only one video-clip with one dyad. Due to time constraints, a consensus check could not be carried out. Recommendations for future research is that, since this is a very innovative method in the deafblind field, replications of the study should be performed on more dyads, different dialogues and more video clips. Recommendation for practice: The combination of conversation analysis and improvisation analyses can very well be used with focus groups of care professionals in clinical practice under supervision of a trained expert in this method of communication analyses.

TeleCPT: Delivery of a Better Conversations Approach to Communication Partner Training During a Global Pandemic and Beyond

Purpose: This case report provides an overview of telehealth delivery of our Better Conversations approach to communication partner training (CPT) for people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and their communication partner (CP). The purpose is to advance the knowledge of speech and language therapists/pathologists (SLTs) on this type of CPT and empower them to deliver teleCPT as part of their clinical practice. Method: We provide a case report describing therapy delivery, outcomes, and self-reflections from our clinical practice, which represents a collaboration between a UK National Health Service CPT clinic and the Better Conversations Research Lab at University College London, UK. A man with PPA and his CP (a dyad) video-recorded everyday conversations at home using a video conferencing platform. These formed the basis of an evaluation of conversation barriers and facilitators, which led to four weekly 1-hr therapy sessions covering the mechanics of conversation, identification of barriers and facilitators, goal setting, and practice of positive conversation strategies. Results: Dyad self-rating of goal attainment revealed that three of four conversation strategies were achieved much more than expected, a positive outcome given the progressive nature of F.F.'s condition. SLT access to the dyad at home via teleCPT facilitated the carryover of strategies from the session to everyday conversations in the home environment. TeleCPT was acceptable to this couple during a global pandemic, with benefits including no travel, ease of therapy scheduling around the CP's work and family commitments, and access to a specialist CPT clinic outside their geographical area. Conclusions: TeleCPT is feasible and acceptable to clients, improving access to therapy in a way that should not just be the preserve of service delivery during a global pandemic. SLTs can enable clients and their families to have better conversations despite communication difficulties by offering teleCPT. We have shared practical suggestions for delivering teleCPT.

Exploring the Irony in Japanese Popular Culture. A Cross-Cultural and Linguistic Analysis.

The present study addresses the status and use of irony in Japanese popular culture by closely examining its’ cultural variations on a corpus consisting of ironic utterances and situations from three popular culture media: Japanese drama, anime, and manga. While it is likely that Western popular culture abounds in ironic aesthetics and standpoints, the concept of “irony” faces cultural reconstruction within Japanese culture and society, a fact easily reflected in national media and cinematographic productions. In such cases, the cultural and linguistic distance between Japanese and English, and the striking difference, which exists between these two geographical and cultural contexts, increase the challenge interposed by the understanding and interpreting of irony. Moreover, on a conversational level, ironizing one’s communication partner is considered socially unacceptable and penalised accordingly. It stands against the much-expected politeness and traditional Japanese concepts such as “honne” and “tatemae,” which, if preserved, can create harmony in communication. In conclusion, the ambiguous definition of irony, together with the negative perception and reluctance of Japanese people towards its usage, has contributed to frequently branding irony strictly as a Western phenomenon. However, as the present research attempts to demonstrate, the usage of irony in Japanese popular culture embraces multifarious approaches, and it extends to reach the borders of semantics.

Using the Medical Research Council framework and public involvement in the development of a communication partner training intervention for people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA): Better Conversations with PPA

Background Primary progressive aphasia is a language-led dementia resulting in a gradual dissolution of language. Primary progressive aphasia has a significant psychosocial impact on both the person and their families. Speech and language therapy is one of the only available management options, and communication partner training interventions offer a practical approach to identify strategies to support conversation. The aim of this study was to define and refine a manual and an online training resource for speech and language therapists to deliver communication partner training to people with primary progressive aphasia and their communication partners called Better Conversations with primary progressive aphasia. Methods The Better Conversations with primary progressive aphasia manual and training program were developed using the Medical Research Council framework for developing complex interventions. The six-stage development process included 1. Exploratory review of existing literature including principles of applied Conversation Analysis, behaviour change theory and frameworks for chronic disease self-management, 2. Consultation and co-production over 12 meetings with the project steering group comprising representatives from key stakeholder groups, 3. Development of an initial draft, 4. Survey feedback followed by a consensus meeting using the Nominal Group Techniques with a group of speech and language therapists, 5. Two focus groups to gather opinions from people with PPA and their families were recorded, transcribed and Thematic Analysis used to examine the data, 6. Refinement. Results Co-production of the Better Conversations with primary progressive aphasia resulted in seven online training modules, and a manual describing four communication partner training intervention sessions with accompanying handouts. Eight important components of communication partner training were identified in the aggregation process of the Nominal Group Technique undertaken with 36 speech and language therapists, including use of video feedback to focus on strengths as well as areas of conversation breakdown. Analysis of the focus groups held with six people with primary progressive aphasia and seven family members identified three themes 1) Timing of intervention, 2) Speech and language therapists’ understanding of types of dementia, and 3) Knowing what helps. These data informed refinements to the manual including additional practice activities and useful strategies for the future. Conclusions Using the Medical Research Council framework to develop an intervention that is underpinned by a theoretical rationale of how communication partner training causes change allows for the key intervention components to be strengthened. Co-production of the manual and training materials ensures the intervention will meet the needs of people with primary progressive aphasia and their communication partners. Gathering further data from speech and language therapists and people living with primary progressive aphasia and their families to refine the manual and the training materials enhances the feasibility of delivering this in preparation for a phase II NHS-based randomised controlled pilot-feasibility study, currently underway.

Automated State-Machine-Based Analysis of Hostname Verification in IPsec Implementations

Owing to the advent and rapid development of Internet communication technology, network security protocols with cryptography as their core have gradually become an important means of ensuring secure communications. Among numerous security protocols, certificate authentication is a common method of identity authentication, and hostname verification is a critical but easily neglected process in certificate authentication. Hostname verification validates the identity of a remote target by checking whether the hostname of the communication partner matches any name in the X.509 certificate. Notably, errors in hostname verification may cause security problems with regard to identity authentication. In this study, we use a model-learning method to conduct security testing for hostname verification in internet protocol security (IPsec). This method can analyze the problems entailed in implementing hostname verification in IPsec by effectively inferring the deterministic finite automaton model that can describe the matching situation between the certificate subject name and the hostname for different rules. We analyze two popular IPsec implementations, Strongswan and Libreswan, and find five violations. We use some of these violations to conduct actual attack tests on the IPsec implementation. The results show that under certain conditions, attackers can use these flaws to carry out identity impersonation attacks and man-in-the-middle attacks.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION MOTIVES OF PRESCHOOLERS’ WITH VARIOUS DEGREES OF EMOTIONAL ADMIRATION OF JOINT ACTIVITY

The article presents the results of theoretical and empirical research of psychological peculiarities of communication motivation of preschoolers who have different degrees of emotional admiration of joint activity. As a result of theoretical analysis, it was found that the most common reason for children to choose a communication partner is the attractiveness of another person as a personality due to the moral, business or physical qualities, a manifestation of sympathy, love to this person, i.e. emotional attitude. At the same time, the need for a more detailed practical study of the problem was confirmed, because the issue of communication motivation in preschool age, in particular, the influence of the degree of emotional admiration of joint activity on this process, remains insufficiently resolved. The data of an empirical study of the peculiarities of communication motives of preschool children with different degrees of emotional admiration of joint activity showed that the higher the degree of emotional interest of preschoolers for joint activity is, the higher the degree of development of communication motives they have. Parameters such as the subjective significance of a peer for a child, which is manifested in the general admiration of others; peer orientation, i.e. the ability to concede, to help; ability to empathy, as well as the child’s choice (to help or not to help to his or her peers), the degree of emotional admiration of the activity and an indication of its expression (positive or negative); the nature of the child’s behavior, its emotional expression, speech, were used as the main indicators of interpersonal relationships. It was proved that the degree of preschoolers’ emotional admiration of joint activity is largely correlated with the level of development of their ability to concede and the willingness to help. Thus, the motives of communication of the preschooler with other children differ depending on the degree of his or her emotional admiration of joint activity, because it was found that the higher the degree of emotional admiration of preschoolers is, the higher the level of development of the ability to concede and the willingness to help they have.