Images that Highlight: The Case of Video Calls Between an Emergency Call Service and People with Aphasia

This study is part of a wider project to ensure that people with aphasia have better access to emergency calls in France, via Centre National Relais 114 (CNR114), a specialized emergency call reception center. We collected data from video calls between 114’s agents and aphasic volunteers simulating emergency situations. We closely examined how participants deal with comprehension problems, in particular how the agent’s use of images shown and pointed at the camera proves decisive. Using a conversation analysis approach that takes into account the specificity of the participants, we provide emblematic cases of what we found in the data, all in line with the practical problem of organizing and ensuring mutual understanding, through referential activities. The results reveal some in-depth aspects of emergency service agents’ expertise from an interactional and creative point of view: facilitating the progressivity of interaction and ensuring a better understanding of the different referents mobilized in discourse.