Foreign Languages and Approach-Avoidance Conflicts

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Such a relevant topic

From: Michelle Paradies
Date: 08 Oct 2012
Time: 10:12:28 -0500
Remote Name: 68.193.80.234

Comments

I congratulate you for writing this paper and, furthermore, I commend the organizers of the 2012 ISAD Conference for including your paper and opening up for the floor for discussion on the very important topic of the link between psycho-emotional stress and stuttering. I could not agree more with you that stuttering quite possibly has a psychological foundation and moreover that it could be classified as an approach avoidance conflict. I would even go as far as to assert that stuttering is a learned response. It is a shame that the stuttering community will not recognize the clear fact that there are many PWS for whom the genetic theory of stuttering does not fit and whose stuttering can be clearly correlated to a psychological phenomenon. I developed stuttering around 11 years old, making me a late-onsite stutter. Your description of the how the case has been with your stuttering, largely mirrors mine. It is now mostly non-existent in day to day English speaking situations with little stress or risk. The situation with speaking in a foreign language could not be more different. I greatly enjoy foreign language, despite not being able to speak them. I have spent considerable time and energy studying Spanish and German. Despite a high level of listening and reading comprehension in them, I cannot speak even the most basic phrases outside of a protected setting – despite knowing exactly what I want to say. In English on the other hand, I have overcome stuttering in almost all cases except those causing stress. The reason I am not more actively involved in the stuttering community is exactly this resistance, that you reference in your paper, of it to recognize the possible socio-emotional link and the failure of the stuttering community to accept people who seek to promote this viewpoint. Congratulations again on your accomplishment in finally drawing some attention to the psychological foundations of stuttering. I hope to see more attention to this critical area of stuttering treatment and research.


Last changed: 10/22/12