Speaking partners' talk in transitions between symbols in conversations that use speech-output technologies.

Aided conversations differ from spoken ones in their transitions between turns and symbols because seeking and choosing symbols takes more time than speaking words naturally. This study adopted the concepts and principles of conversation analysis (CA) to analyze the transitions between symbols during the construction of aided turns. The data was from the spontaneous conversations at home between mothers and four males (sons) who used speech-output technologies. The analyses compared the durations of transitions between turns and symbols and frequency of mothers' talk during the transitions. The mothers most often remained silent during the symbol-transitions, but when they talked, their speech was inspired by the current context and was not coincidental. When the mothers spoke during the symbol-transitions, their sons either continued or paused constructing their turn. Despite the effect on the progress of conversations, the participants did not orient to these expanded aided turns as challenging. The expansions manifested (a) in parallel (b) side by side with the aided turn, and (c) as a part of the ongoing aided turn. Analyzing the structural characteristics of aided conversations deepens our understanding of theoretical concepts, offers strategies to guide aided communicators and their partners, and helps to develop augmentative and alternative communication technologies that promote interactive communication.

The structure of participants' turn-transition practices in aided conversations that use speech-output technologies.

Using the concepts and principles of conversation analysis (CA), this paper examines the everyday, unscripted, spontaneous conversations between 4 males who communicated with the aid of speech-output technologies and their mothers. The analyses focused on describing the conversationalists' various actions in aided turn-transition processes, resulting in a 3-part turn-transition structure used to accomplish aided turn initiation. Despite the challenges to conversational progress, the participants did not consider the conversational speed a challenge. The participants and their mothers were oriented to the progression of the aided conversation by creating interaction practices to achieve successful turn-transitions. By understanding the structural characteristics of fluent aided conversations, it may be possible to develop effective interaction strategies for communication partners and for augmentative and alternative communication technologies that are intentionally designed to facilitate interactive communication.