Discursive Methods and the Cross-linguistic Study of ASD: A Conversation Analysis Case Study of Repetitive Language in a Malay-Speaking Child

In this chapter, Mohamed Zain and colleagues provide an account of formulaic and repetitive language produced by a preschool-aged Malay-speaking child with mild ASD. Using conversation analysis (CA), they consider the functions of a repetitive expression, “apa tu” (“what’s that”), that was used frequently by the child across two 30-minute dyadic play sessions. By positioning the analyses against existing ASD-relevant findings about interactions involving English-speaking participants, the authors reflect upon the possibilities offered by CA for cross-linguistic research on diagnosed individuals.