Persuasive discourse in aging

Background and Aim : Elderly is often described by changes in cognitive functions which affect the receptive and expressive capabilities of the language. Since language plays a significant role in human life for establishing social interactions, and also because speech-language pathologists make important contributions in maintaining and promoting communication of the senior, and regarding the fact that the awareness of discourse features in the older people can lead to improvement of speech treatment disorders in the elderly, it seems that it is necessary to examine the language of the older people.Methods : This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study. In this study, a persuasive discourse of 92 adults ranged between 19 to 75 year olds which were divided into four age groups (19-24, 25-39, 40-60, 60-75 years) have been examined. Initially, each subject filled out the written consent form for participation in the research and personal information. Then cognitive assessment was performed using MMSE screening test and finally, the ability of persuasive discourses were evaluated. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify the normality of the data. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for coherence and cohesion that did not have normal distribution. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software.Results : There is a significant statistical difference between the coherence in the elderly group and each of the other three groups in persuasive discourse (p <0.05), but there was no significant difference in the cohesion variable between the elderly and the first age group.Conclusion : The results of this study showed that the ability related to discourse, especially the coherence, is influenced by age and especially aging. For this reason, speech-language pathologists need to pay special attention to the underlying linguistic and cognitive needs of these age groups and incorporate them into their clinical plans.

Keywords:

aging , discourse , persuasive