Perceived liveliness and speech comprehensibility in aphasia: the effects of direct speech in auditory narratives

Abstract

This is the first research to demonstrate that communication is perceived as more lively when it contains direct speech than when it does not, but yet is not more comprehensible. Individuals with Broca's and anomic aphasia are known to produce regularly direct speech constructions in elicited narratives. Given that liveliness is known to increase listeners' involvement and to help listeners stay focused, we suggest that this relative increase in direct speech by aphasic speakers may reflect a strategy to increase not only the liveliness of their discourse, but also listener focus and involvement.