Fluency, Stuttering And Codeswitching In Bilingual Adults

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Fluency, Stuttering And Code-switching In
Bilingual Adults
Tanya Klugman, Jean Bowker, and Nola Watt
Speech Pathology and Audiology School of Human
and Community Development University of the
Witwatersrand
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Introduction

• South Africas strong multilingual heritage
• Multilingualism around the world
• Prevalence of stuttering unknown in SA
• Many individuals who stutter are likely to be
  bilingual or multilingual

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Bilingualism and Code-switching

• The bilingual mode speaking situation in which
  bilinguals talk to other bilinguals
• Bilingualism has unique linguistic phenomena e.g.
  code-switching
• Code-switching refers to switching between
  languages in an utterance

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Code-switching and Stuttering

• Code-switching Advanced stuttering
• is influenced by is influenced by
• Topic Topic
• Listeners Listeners
• Situations Situations
• Emotional aspects Emotional Aspects
• Power relations Avoidance Anticipation

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Code-switching and Stuttering

• Complex grammatical rules
• Code-switching is not a helter-skelter
  production (Myers-Scotton, 1993)
• No universally applicable linguistic constraints
  have been established

• Predictable links between grammatical factors and
  stuttering.
• The locus of stuttering events is rule governed.
• Language factors.

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Is There a Relationship Between Code-switching
and Fluency?

• Code-switching may increase stuttering events.
• Disfluencies in a code-switching moment
  (McCormick, 1995)
• Code-switching events are associated with, and
  sometimes, even attracted, stutters
• (Cabrera and Bernstein-Ratner, 2000)

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Is There a Relationship Between Code-switching
and Fluency?

• Code-switching may decrease stuttering events.
• Stuttering children produced more code-switched
  utterances than non-stuttering peers, as a
  strategy to cope with disfluencies (Karniol,
  1992).
• Possible avoidance of feared sounds.
• The monolingual mode has connotations of formality

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Aim of the Study

• Determine the relationship between bilingual
  mode, formality, and fluency in a group of
  bilingual English-Afrikaans adults.

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Method

• Qualitative
• Multiple case design

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Participants
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Procedure

• 1st Part of the interview
• Biographical information
• Language acquisition history
• Self-ratings of proficiency and language use

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Speaking Situations
 
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Procedure

• 2nd part of the interview
• Use of code-switching
• Relationship between code-switching and
  fluency

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Data Analysis

• Stuttering Analysis
• Systematic Disfluency Analysis
• (SDA) (Campbell Hill, 1994).
• Rate of Speech
• Syllables per minute.

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Data Analysis

• Code-Switching Analysis
• Two judges
• Each moment of code-switching
• Appropriateness
• Associated disfluency

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Data Analysis

• Analysis
• Qualitative
• Inter-Rater Reliability
• 20 of samples
• IRR 75

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Results

• Disfluency levels and speech rates differed
  across language modes in all of the participants,
  regardless of fluency status.
• Difference hypothesis
• Jankelowitz Bortz, 1996 Nwokah, 1988 Van
  Borsel et al., 2001

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Results

• 3.5 - 11.5 disfluencies in the fluent
  participants
• Below 3 disfluencies in fluent monolingual
  speakers
• Monolingual norms cannot be
  applied to bilingual speakers

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Results

• English procedure was more fluent than the
  English conversation in all participants
• English conversation was the most disfluent in
  all participants, corresponding to their
  self-reports.

Individuals language use is very important
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Results S1 and F1
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Results S2 and F2
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Code-switching Disfluency Attitudes

• Both stuttering participants reported that they
  had used code-switching in the past as avoidance
  of stuttering moments
• Advantages of being bilingual
• Fluent participants did not report any perceived
  relationship

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Disfluency and Code-switchingS1
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Disfluency and Code-switching S1

• Used terms requiring code-switching despite
  higher levels of disfluency
• Code-switched utterances were pragmatically
  appropriate.

• Did not use code-switching as
• avoidance of stuttering.

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Disfluency and Code-switchingF1

• F1 did not use code-switching.
• Corresponded with his self-report
• does not code-switch with strangers.

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Disfluency and Code-switchingS2
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Disfluency and Code-switchingS2

• The result of the joint construction and
  momentary negotiation of the social interaction
  between the Afrikaans interlocutor and S2?

• Or was S2s use of code-switching in Afrikaans
  mode an highly effective avoidance of stuttering?
  

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Disfluency and Code-switchingF2
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Implications

• Assessment
• Treatment
• Counseling
• Generalization of
• techniques
• Termination of
• therapy
• Further research

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Implications

• Monolingual norms of fluency levels
• Descriptive tool in analysis of disfluency
• Different contexts
• Tailor therapy to the individuals language
  history, proficiency and general language use

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Implications

• Different languages
• Contribution of bilingual mode to difference
  hypothesis

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EXTERNAL EXTERNAL
FACTORS FACTORS
INTERNAL FACTORS

• Attention to L1
• L1 Proficiency
• Core Stuttering Behaviours
• Fluency Monitoring
• Emotions about Stuttering
• Escape Behaviours
• Avoidance Behaviours

Interlocutor
Formality
Language 1
Environment
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EXTERNAL EXTERNAL FACTORS FACTORS
INTERNAL FACTORS
Attention to L1 L1 Proficiency Core Stuttering
Behaviours Fluency Monitoring Emotions about
Stuttering Escape Behaviours Avoidance Behaviours
Interlocutor
Formality
Language 1
Environment
Attention to L2 L2 Proficiency Attitudes to
L1 Attitudes to L2  L1 Use L2 Use
Language 2
Mode
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Suggestions

• More participants
• Matching procedure
• Obtain more naturalistic data of participants
  actual speech performance in real-life situations
  

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Conclusion
The findings of the current study provide some
insights into the complexity of bilingual
stuttering so that clinicians are more able to
confront bilingual stuttering in a culturally and
linguistically sensitive manner.