A linguistic communication measure for monitoring changes in Chinese aphasic narrative production.

This study investigated the usefulness of the Cantonese Linguistic Communication Measure (CLCM) in monitoring changes of narrative production in five Chinese adults with aphasia in the period of spontaneous recovery (SR group) and four who underwent anomia therapies (Tx group). Language samples elicited from a picture description task were collected among SR participants at regular intervals within the first 6 months post-onset and among Tx participants before and after treatment. Results showed that the CLCM indices could reflect changes of language production in these individuals over time. The changes of index values were consistent with the expectations of performance during early stages after stroke for the SR participants and treatment outcomes of the Tx participants. While the CLCM has previously been shown to be useful in measuring aphasic narratives on a single occasion, this study has provided further evidence of its capability to monitor changes of language production over time.