Linguistic recycling in typical and atypical interaction

Abstract

I present evidence that linguistic "recycling" - i.e., the redeployment of linguistic material from prior utterances during conversation - is a striking and prevalent feature not only of interaction between typical speakers, but also, and notably, of interaction involving the communication impaired. In the latter case, recycling may sometimes be used as a compensatory communicative resource when linguistic ability is compromised. Despite its prevalence, however, recycling has largely been ignored by clinical linguists. In addition to providing illustrations of linguistic recycling across a range of communication disorders, I also examine how it is subserved by phenomena such as priming, short-term memory and alignment. I subsequently argue for a shift in perspective that puts recycling at the heart of our perception of how typical and atypical interaction works, and suggest a number of potential benefits for clinical linguistics, ranging from the way we understand and analyse communication disorders to how we assess and treat them.

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