Browsing by Subject "uuden sanaston oppiminen"

Background. Aphasia is a linguistic disorder that occurs after language acquisition and is most commonly caused by stroke. Research on novel word acquisition can contribute to the development of aphasia rehabilitation because it helps understand the relearning of words lost due to aphasia. Novel word acquisition has been researched mainly in chronic aphasia, in which learning is possible but shows large individual variation. There is initial evidence that novel word learning is also possible in non-chronic aphasia. Aims. The objective of this thesis is to study recovery and novel word learning in the subacute and chronic stages of aphasia. The thesis will also look into possible connections between learning in subacute aphasia and learning in chronic aphasia. These connections have not been previously explored. Methods. The multiple case study included four aphasic participants who were examined 0–3 months after stroke and again 12 months after stroke. The examination consisted of cognitive-linguistic background tests, questionnaires and a computer-based novel word learning task. In the latter, the participant was tasked with learning the associations between given pseudo-words and images through feedback and repetition. Research data was analyzed case by case. Results and conclusions. Recovery and novel word learning in subacute and chronic aphasia varied among the participants. In both stages, some participants learned new vocabulary and were able to transfer it into their long-term memory. The changes in novel word learning from subacute to chronic aphasia also varied among the subjects. These changes were not systematically connected with the severity of the participants’ aphasia, their baseline learning ability or an alleviation of cognitive-linguistic symptoms. Learning ability in subacute aphasia does therefore not always appear to predict learning ability in chronic aphasia, but novel word learning is possible in both subacute and chronic aphasia. Aphasia recovery shows considerable individual variation.