This study analyses videorecorded data from training sessions in French in which trainers accompany blind trainees during the accomplishment of navigational tasks such as crossing a street and heading for a door or a sidewalk with the guide dog. The pedagogical goal of these training sessions is to ensure that the trainee and the dog form a safe and efficient couple and particularly that the trainee employs tactile and vocal resources in relevant ways for interacting with the dog. The instructional activities documented in the data revolve around a triadic participation framework in which the trainer addresses a first action (instruction) to the trainee, who implements a subsequent action addressing the dog. The study identifies two distinct instructional configurations. In the first configuration, the trainer produces an instruction formulating what to tell the dog to do next (e.g.: Dis lui traverse, “Say cross to him”) and incorporating a verbal cue which the dog is trained to recognise. In this configuration, the trainer’s instruction projects the relevance that the trainee reuses the verbal cue and addresses it to the dog. In the second configuration, the trainer produces an instruction to tell the blind trainee what to do next to (or with) the dog (e.g., “Here you can reward the dog”), and the trainee implements the relevant embodied/tactile action (e.g., patting and praising the dog). There is a systematic distribution of multimodal resources for interacting with the dog: verbal cues are overwhelmingly used to get the dog to perform navigational tasks; touch is used either to correct (e.g., pulling the leash) or to reward (e.g., stroking and patting) the dog. Overall, the study provides a novel investigation of the pedagogical practices involved in training blind guide-dog owners. It highlights the systematic distribution of vocal and tactile resources for accomplishing navigational tasks as a blind-dog pair.
Blind pedestrians training with guide-dogs: Instructional configurations in a triadic participation framework
Monica Simone
;Renata Galatolo
In corso di stampa
Abstract
This study analyses videorecorded data from training sessions in French in which trainers accompany blind trainees during the accomplishment of navigational tasks such as crossing a street and heading for a door or a sidewalk with the guide dog. The pedagogical goal of these training sessions is to ensure that the trainee and the dog form a safe and efficient couple and particularly that the trainee employs tactile and vocal resources in relevant ways for interacting with the dog. The instructional activities documented in the data revolve around a triadic participation framework in which the trainer addresses a first action (instruction) to the trainee, who implements a subsequent action addressing the dog. The study identifies two distinct instructional configurations. In the first configuration, the trainer produces an instruction formulating what to tell the dog to do next (e.g.: Dis lui traverse, “Say cross to him”) and incorporating a verbal cue which the dog is trained to recognise. In this configuration, the trainer’s instruction projects the relevance that the trainee reuses the verbal cue and addresses it to the dog. In the second configuration, the trainer produces an instruction to tell the blind trainee what to do next to (or with) the dog (e.g., “Here you can reward the dog”), and the trainee implements the relevant embodied/tactile action (e.g., patting and praising the dog). There is a systematic distribution of multimodal resources for interacting with the dog: verbal cues are overwhelmingly used to get the dog to perform navigational tasks; touch is used either to correct (e.g., pulling the leash) or to reward (e.g., stroking and patting) the dog. Overall, the study provides a novel investigation of the pedagogical practices involved in training blind guide-dog owners. It highlights the systematic distribution of vocal and tactile resources for accomplishing navigational tasks as a blind-dog pair.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
