Discourse and Aging
HEIDI E. HAMILTON
0 Introduction
Some scholars describe
the language and/or communicative abilities that accompany aging, looking both
at healthy individuals and at those dealing with health problems that directly
affect language use, such as Alzheimer’s disease and aphasia. Others assume
that people’s language choices help to construct their social identities
(including an elderly identity or patient identity) and relate these choices to
issues of mental and physical health. Still others recognize the critical
importance of communicative relationships across the life span and investigate
talk among friends and family members, both at home and within health-care
facilities.
This article describes:
1 Who Is Old?
Conceptualizations of Old Age
Researchers who work with elderly individuals come to the nearly
immediate realization that age is much more complex than a simple biological
category. Chronological age tells only a small part of anyone’s story and in
fact, can be quite misleading.
People often feel older or younger than their chronological age (Boden and Bielby 1986; cf. discussion of “disjunctive aging” in Coupland et al. 1989).
Each person will experience aging, but aging in each individual will vary depending on hereditary factors, environmental stressors, and a large number of other factors. Although there is no single theory can explain the events of the physical, psychological, and social events complex that occur from time to time, an understanding of the research and theories generated is very important for nurses to help the elderly maintain physical health and psychological perfect.
People often feel older or younger than their chronological age (Boden and Bielby 1986; cf. discussion of “disjunctive aging” in Coupland et al. 1989).
Each person will experience aging, but aging in each individual will vary depending on hereditary factors, environmental stressors, and a large number of other factors. Although there is no single theory can explain the events of the physical, psychological, and social events complex that occur from time to time, an understanding of the research and theories generated is very important for nurses to help the elderly maintain physical health and psychological perfect.
Theories that explain how and why aging occurs typically classified into
two major groups, namely the theory of Biological and Psikososialogis
2 Embracing Multiple Disciplinary Perspectives
Following Chafe and Moerman, then,
I argue that,
not only should
no single disciplinary approach
be understood as the dominant paradigm in issues of discourse
and aging, but excluding any disciplinary approach a priori
will almost certainly result in a less-than-complete understanding of such issues. The field is far too complex
to be understood by looking through
one set of filters.
Aging
(getting old) is a process of gradual disappearance of the network's ability to
self-repair / replace and maintain normal function that can’t survive the
infection and repair the damage suffered. (Constantindes, 1994)
The process
of aging is not a disease, but rather a period or stage of human life, namely:
infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age, and the elderly. People died not
because of advanced age, but because of a disease, or also a handicap. However,
the aging process can cause a reduction in body resistance in the face of
stimuli from inside and outside the body. Nevertheless, it must be admitted
that there is a wide range of diseases that often plague the elderly.
The aging
process is already under way since the person reaches adulthood. For example,
with the loss of tissue in the muscles, nervous system and other tissues so
that the body die little by little. Actually there is no clear boundary, at
what age a person's appearance began to decline. In each person, the
physiological function of the tool body is very different, both in terms of
achieving the peak and decline.
3 Modes of Inquiry
3.1 Different starting points
Possibly the most obvious paradigmatic difference relates to the choice of a theory-driven (top-down) or data-driven (bottom-up) approach
to questions of discourse and aging. Researchers who align themselves
with the natural sciences tend to take a
theory-driven approach; they start with a question
and motivation that derive from a
theory which they deem important
and relevant. Once the motivated
question has been posed, they determine which and how many subjects are necessary to carry out the study as well as the context(s) of the subjects’
language use. In this approach,
the analytical tools necessary to the examination of language use are usually determined
ahead of the actual data collection.
3.2 Contexts of talk
Discourse and aging studies typically examine language used within one or more of the following contexts:
ü Standardized test situation
ü Interview with the researcher
ü Conversations with the researcher
ü Real-life situations “listened in on” by the researcher
4 Areas of Inquiry
In this section identify three
areas of inquiry that have served to center clusters of research in the area of
discourse and aging and that predict
will continue to be important magnets for research in the future:
(1) language and communicative abilities in old age
(2) identity in old age
(3) social norms, values, and practices in old age.
Decisions regarding where to place individual studies in this review were
based on understanding of each author’s
primary focus and goals.
1)
Language and communicative abilities in old
age
The majority of these scholars work in the
disciplines of psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and speech and language
pathology; their findings are typically based on the discourse produced and
comprehended within standardized test batteries by large numbers of
strategically selected elderly subjects. Some of these researchers look
specifically at subgroups of the overall elderly population who are known to
have difficulties with communication, such as individuals with Alzheimer’s
disease, different types of aphasia, and hearing loss. Others attempt to
characterize the decline, maintenance, or improvement of such abilities within
the healthy elderly population
Language is a symbol
system sounds arbitrary, conventional and influenced by people as a means of
communication. Language is seen as a language which has its own characteristics
and unique. This can be assessed through the disciplines of psycholinguistics.
while Communicative means
able to convey the message properly. That is, the message received by the
receiver together with the intent of the message delivered by the sender of the
message. The meaning of the message here is not only information, but also
includes thoughts, desires and feelings.
2) Identity in old age
Other scholars working
in the area of discourse and aging are drawn to issues of identity. These
researchers tend to be trained in the fields of social psychology,
sociolinguistics, anthropological linguistics, and anthropology. Generally,
they are not primarily interested in characterizing language abilities and
disabilities of elderly individuals. Instead these scholars attempt to identify
patterns and strategies in discourse by and with (usually healthy) elderly
interlocutors and relate these to the ongoing construction of a range of
identities for the speakers as the discourse emerges.
3)
Social norms, values, and practices in old age
Another group of scholars interested in the
relationship between aging and discourse focuses primarily on characterizing
discourse practices by elderly individuals that display or reflect the speakers’
social norms and values.
Cattell (1999: 312) argues that researchers
should not dismiss such complaints as “just what all old people do,” but should
recognize the strategic use of this practice through which the complainers
“assure their physical security and reassure themselves as persons in settings
of rapid social and cultural change.”
Comparing the past to the present. Disclosing
painful information. Complaining. These discursive practices can be seen as
reasonable responses to change, but ones that may be subject to misinterpretation
when (over)heard by those who do not share the same experiences of changing
physical environments, changing bodies, and chang-ing relationships.
5 Conclusions
The goal of understanding how discourse and aging are related to each other challenges us to understand
how language is used by large numbers of elderly indi-viduals in many and varied contexts,
both experimental and natural.
The aging process is normal, this continues
over time naturally. Started since human beings are born even earlier and
generally common to all living beings. Aging is a process of structural body
function decline followed by a decrease in endurance. Each person will
experience old age, but aging on each person varies depending on various
factors that influence it. These factors may include hereditary factors,
nutrition, stress, health status and other. In essence, being
old is a natural process that means someone has gone through three stages of
life, namely childhood, adulthood and old age (Nugroho, 1992). These three
different stages, both biologically and psychologically. Enter old age is to
experience physical and psychological setback. Physical setbacks marked by the
loosened skin, gray hair, decreased hearing, deteriorating eyesight, slow
movements, abnormalities of the various functions of vital organs, increased
emotional sensitivity and lack of passion.
Biological theories
attempting to explain the physical process of aging, including changes in the
function and structure, development, longevity and mortality. The changes in
the body including molecular and cellular changes in major organs and systems
of the body's ability to function adequately and fight disease.
Psikososialogis theory focused on changing attitudes and behaviors that accompany increasing age, as opposed to the biological implications of anatomical damage. For the purposes of this discussion, sociological changes or nonphysical combined with psychological changes.
Psikososialogis theory focused on changing attitudes and behaviors that accompany increasing age, as opposed to the biological implications of anatomical damage. For the purposes of this discussion, sociological changes or nonphysical combined with psychological changes.
