FINAL PROJECT OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

By: Dian Agustiningsih (07320001), Class: B

A. TITLE
A Psycholinguistic Analysis on Speech Disorder of Cerebellar Patient in 1 Litre of Tears

B. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
God creates human differently each other. Some of them are created perfectly, but
some of them cannot produce speech like normal people because of many causes. This
case is called speech disorder, several conditions in which a person has difficulty
communicating by mouth.
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001430.htm, accessed on Saturday,
June 19th 2010)
The speech disorder itself is caused by several causes. Spinocerebellar ataxia is
one of the diseases that can cause the sufferer gets speech disorder. Spinocerebellar ataxia
is a disorder where degeneration of certain parts of the brain results.
(www.wrongdiagnosis.com/c/cerebellar_ataxia.../intro.htm, accessed on Saturday, June
19th 2010)
The researcher chose 1 Litre of Tears to be analyzed because the character of this
movie absolutely shows how spinocerebellar ataxia influences the main character so
speech disorder is happened. The movie also shows step by step the changing of normal
people becomes cerebellar sufferer.
The research is related to Isroatul Mukminah (2007) who has written a thesis
entitled A Psycholinguistic Anaylysis on Speech Disorder of a cerebral palsic Madrasah
Aliyah Negeri (MAN) in “door to door” Film. In this research, researcher tries to
introduce the other disease that can cause speech disorder that is Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
This study could be a good way of introducing students with speech disorder that
is caused by disease. The researcher believes that studying this language phenomenon
would bring many advantages effects for anyone who has interested in psycholinguistic
issues.
C. RESEARCH PROBLEM
How does Spinocerebellar Ataxia influence the speech of the character?

D. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

1. Theoretical Framework
1. Psycholinguistic Analysis
According to field (2003:2) psycholinguistics explores the relationship
between human mind and language. It is supported by Taylor’s statement (1990:3)
that psycholinguistics is the study of language behavior and language use to
communicate ideas.
2. Speech Disorder
Speech disorder is a disorder affecting the ability to produce normal speech.
Speech disorders may affect articulation (phonetic or phonological disorders);
fluency (stuttering or cluttering); and/or voice (tone, pitch, volume, or speed). Most
speech disorders have their roots in oral-motor differences, although some involve
language processing problems. (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp,
accessed on Saturday, June 19th 2010)
3. Spinocerebellar Ataxia
The spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a group of inherited conditions that
affect the brain and spinal cord causing progressive difficulty with coordination. The
SCAs are named for the parts of the nervous system that are affected in this
condition. Spino refers to the spinal cord and cerebellar refers to the cerebellum or
back part of the brain. The cerebellum is the area of the brain that controls
coordination. In people with SCA, the cerebellum often becomes atrophied or
smaller. (http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/spinocerebellar-ataxia, accessed on
Saturday, June 19th 2010)
3.1. Sign and Symptoms
Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is one of a group of genetic disorders
characterized by slowly progressive incoordination of gait and often associated
with poor coordination of hands, speech, and eye movements. Frequently,
atrophy of the cerebellum occurs, and different ataxias are known to affect
different regions within the cerebellum. The symptoms of an ataxia vary with
the specific type and with the individual patient. Generally, a person with
ataxia retains full mental capacity but may progressively lose physical control.
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinocerebellar_ataxia, accessed on Saturday,
June 19th 2010)
3.2. Language of Cerebellar Patient
Stoodley CJ and Schmahmann JD, staffs of Ataxia Unit,
Cognitive/Behavioral Neurology Unit, Department of Neurology,
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston found
that that the cerebellum is involved in language tasks, but the extent to which
slowed language production in cerebellar patients contributes to their poor
performance on these tasks is not clear. Cerebellar patients showed
significantly slower response times when naming common nouns, which
correlated with their degree of motor impairment.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed, accessed on Sunday, June 13th 2010)
4. 1 Litre of Tears
4.1. Description of the Movie
The movie is based on true story of Kito Aya, the cerebellar patient
who wrote her story in diary. She struggled and fought her disease and she
wrote her deepest thoughts until the last day she could hold a pen.
The screenplay of 1 Litre of Tears is written by Egashira Michiru,
Oshima Satomi and Yokota Rie. The movie is directed by director Murakami
Masanori. The producer of the movie is Kashikawa Satoko. The photography
of the movie is in Japan.
4.2. Review of the Movie
Ikeuchi Aya was an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works
at a tofu shop. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She
has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya
to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar
degeneration, a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually
deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. She
struggled and fought her disease until she passed away.
2. Previous Studies
Isroatul Mukminah (2007) has written a thesis entitled A Psycholinguistic
Anaylysis on Speech Disorder of a cerebral palsic Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN)
in “door to door” Film
E. RESEARCH METHOD
1. Research Design
The study uses a qualitative research and the technique of analysis
descriptive research design. The descriptive qualitative method is chosen for this
study because the data are in the form of conversation taken from the movie.
2. Data Collection
The first step of collecting the data is investigating the data from 1 Litre of
Tears. The data are collected by watching the movie from the beginning up to the
end to know how long and frequent the data will be presented. Secondly, selecting
and gathering the data which related to be the theory of speech disorder of cerebellar
patient. The data are gathered by taking the responses of the main characters which
are related problems based on scene on the conversation between Ikeuchi Aya with
other characters.
3. Data Analysis
The first step is analyzing the speech disorder of the main character from
each scene based on theory of speech disorder of cerebellar patient. Then, make the
conclusions from the analysis of the data to obtain the answer to research question.