Listener vs. Speaker-Oriented Speech: Studying the Speech of Individuals with Autism

Abstract

<p> Listener vs. speaker-oriented speech: Studying the language of individuals with autism There are many mechanisms speakers utilize in conversation that aid a listener's understanding. However, there are also many characteristics of speech where it is unclear whether they serve listener or speaker-oriented functions. For example, speakers frequently produce disfluencies such as "um or "uh," which are helpful to listeners, indicating that the speaker is not finished speaking yet. We do not know, however, if these are used intentionally to aid listeners. In addition, the tendency to place animate items as sentential subjects may benefit either speaker or listener. Since individuals with autism engage in minimal listener-oriented behaviour, they are a useful group to differentiate these functions. Results showed that individuals with autism used fewer ums and uhs, and more silent pauses than controls, but used animacy similarly. This suggests that the use of ums and uhs is for the benefit of listeners, but the bias toward animate subjects is not.</p>