modelling conversational pragmatics in communication aids.pdfVIP

Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 523–538 /locate/pragma Modelling conversational pragmatics in communication aids John Todmana,*, Norman Almb aDepartment of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK bDepartment of Applied Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK Received 7 March 2000; received in revised form 19 August 2002 Abstract Non-speaking users of communication aids have a range of pragmatic conversational goals. These may be classified broadly as transactional or interactional and in terms of their imme- diacy or distance. A phrase-creation approach to the design of assistive devices may be well suited to the achievement of some transactional goals. However, assistive devices based on the selection of pre-stored phrases may be particularly useful for achieving short-term inter- actional goals, for which speed of responding is crucially important. Designers of communi- cation aids have begun to model pragmatic aspects of natural conversation in an attempt to help users to achieve their interactional goals in particular. Some approaches to conver- sational modelling are discussed in order to indicate how research on the pragmatics of natural conversation might help in efforts to further enhance the effectiveness of assistive devices. # 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Conversation; Communication; Aided communication; Conversational modelling; Voca design; Conversational rate 1. Introduction People who have a physical impairment that makes them unable to communicate through speech face immense difficulties. Because of the importance of interpersonal communication in human society, if an individual has difficulty in daily communi- cation, thei