Ämneshantering hos flerspråkiga med Alzheimers sjukdom
FlerspråkighetDiskursanalysSamtalsämneshanteringAlzheimers sjukdomAndraspråkLogopediNarrativaBildstöd
In previous studies there has been indications that multilingualism has a delaying effect of the onset of dementia and damage on cognitive abilities (Bialystok et al., 2007; De Bot & Makoni, 2005, s. 58). Cognitive abilities refers to memory, attention, language, abstract thinking and understandings among other things (Läkemedelsverket). Other studies have seen that individuals with Alzheimer's disease (Swedish abbreviation AS from here on) have difficulties with managing a conversation (Hyltenstam & Stroud 1989). This study aims to describe the topic treatment in bilingual individuals with AS and compare their different languages. The study also compares the multilingualism with monolinguals with respect to topic treatment. Through a qualitative analysis the ability to maintain and introduce topic in a conversation is researched. The study is a casestudy of four individuals with AS two of which were monolinguals with Swedish as their mother tongue and two were bilinguals with Swedish as their second language and finish as their first language. The language was examined through a semistructured interview based in discourse analysis with prepared questions as to ease the flow of the conversation. Narrative ability was also examined and a story was elicited in more formal settings with the help of a picture series from the research project COST Action IS0804. The narrative was compared with the interview to see if visual support improved the participants language. Results show that the multilinguals had a better result in their mother tongue than in Swedish. The multilingualism where on a comparable level with the monolinguals in their mother tongue. The multilinguals where on a slightly lower level in their Swedish compared to the monolinguals. The study showed that visual support might have improved the language of all the participants.