Language Performance and Impairment of Patients with Alzheimer’s: Evidence from Patients in Tlemcen

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by continuously deteriorating impairments in several cognitive domains; it is currently viewed as one of the most severe chronic diseases. Language disturbance is one of the most prominent signs of Alzheimer's disease, causing higher-level communication impairments. The objectives of this research is to extract and summarize the key language deficiencies associated with Alzheimer disease, with an emphasis on the changes in different language domains (semantic, pragmatic, syntactic, and phonologic) during the course of the disease. In other words, using connected speech as a tool to offer a detailed knowledge of language performance in correlation to Alzheimer’s disease at various stages and whether the patients have common language errors. Thus, the study's contribution is represented by eliciting and describing the linguistic features adopted for by certain Alzheimer's patients from Tlemcen who accepted to collaborate. As a result, the purpose of this descriptive study is to provide insights into the significance of language in Alzheimer's disease. The research consists of two methods of data collection, conducting interview with three patients at a neurologist’s office in Tlemcen, followed by content analysis of a movie. The data obtained was then qualitatively evaluated. Finally, the findings demonstrated that the patients' language behaviour corresponds to their disease prognosis. Furthermore, many linguistic abnormalities are common and discovered in all patients who, according to the doctor, are in different stages of the disease.Semantic, pragmatic and phonological levels of language are deteriorated.