Stroke narratives in aphasia: The role of reported speech

Background: Reported speech has been examined extensively in linguistics and discourse research; however, very few studies on reported speech in narratives of individuals with aphasia have been undertaken. Previous research on stroke narratives focused on African American and Caucasian American populations and cultural variations in narrative style (Olness & Ulatowska, 2002). Aims: The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural roles of reported speech in narratives of persons with aphasia. The following research questions were addressed: 1) Do individuals with aphasia use reported speech in illness narratives?, 2) Do they use direct and indirect forms of reported speech?, 3) What is the distribution of reported speech in the narratives?, 4) What function does reported speech perform?, 5) Who is quoted in the reported speech?, 6) Does the structure of reported speech differ across cultural groups? Methods & Procedures: Stroke narratives were elicited from 18 Caucasian American and 15 African Amer...