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Gestures in language acquisition

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Gestures are a form of non-verbal communication that include movements of the hands, arms, and/or other parts of the body. Children can use gesture to communicate before they have the ability to use spoken words and phrases. In this way gestures can prepare children to learn a spoken language, creating a bridge from pre-verbal communication to speech.[1][2] The onset of gesture has also been shown to predict and facilitate children's spoken language acquisition as well as increase the size of their vocabulary.[3][4] Once children begin to use spoken words their gestures can be used in conjunction with these words to form phrases and eventually to express thoughts and complement vocalized ideas.

Gestures not only complement language development but also enhance the child’s ability to communicate. Gestures allow the speaker to convey a message or thought that is not easily expressed through limitations of the child's vocabulary and abstract thought. These gestures are classified into different categories occurring in different stages of children’s development.[5]

Difference between signs and gestures

It is important to first realize the difference between manual signs and gestures. Gestures are distinct from manual signs in that they do not belong to a complete language system.[6] For example pointing through the extension of a body part, especially the index finger to indicate interest in an object is a widely used gesture that is understood by many cultures[7] On the other hand, manual signs are conventionalized—they are gestures that have become a lexical element in a language. A good example of manual signing is American Sign Language (ASL)–when individuals communicate via ASL, their gestures have meanings that are equivalent to lexical elements (e.g., two people communicating using ASL both understand that forming a fist with your right hand and rotating this fist using clockwise motions carries the lexical meaning of the word "sorry").[8]

Deictic gestures

Typically, the first gestures children show around 10 to 12 months of age are deictic gestures. These gestures are also known as pointing where children extend their index finger, although any other body part could also be used, to single out an object of interest.[5] Deictic gestures occur across cultures and indicate that infants are aware of what other people pay attention to. Pre-verbal children use pointing for many different reasons, such as responding to or answering questions and/or sharing their interests and knowledge with others.[9]

There are two main functions to infant's pointing:

  1. Imperative – this type of deictic gesture develops first and children use it to obtain something (the speech equivalent would be saying "give me that").
  2. Declarative – this type of deictic gesture develops later than imperative gestures and directs an adult's attention to an object or event to indicate its existence (the speech equivalent would be saying "look at that"). Declarative gestures can be expressive within which the child is indicating that they consider something to be interesting and want to share this interest with another person or informative wherein the child is providing the other person with information. This type of gesture is typically absent in autistic children's gesture repertoires[10]

The existence of deictic gestures that are declarative and expressive in nature reflects another important part of children's development, the development of joint visual attention. Joint visual attention occurs when a child and an adult share a moment of pre-verbal communication.[11] The development of joint visual attention is considered a precursor to language acquisition. Joint attention through the use of pointing is considered a precursor to speech development because it reveals that children want to communicate with another person.[5]

Kovacs et al. have also demonstrated that children's deictic gestures can serve as an epistemic request wherein infants may point to an object in order for an adult to provide new information, like a name, to an object.[2] Furthermore, the amount of pointing at 12 months old predicts speech production and comprehension rates at 24 months old.[11]

Once children can produce spoken words they often use deictic gestures to create sentence-like phrases. These phrases occur when a child, for example, says the word “eat” and then points to a cookie. The incidence of these gesture-word combinations predicts the transition from one-word to two-word speech.[4] This shows that gesture can maximize the communicative opportunities that children can have before their speech is fully developed.[11] Furthermore, gesture-word combinations facilitate children’s entrance into lexical and syntactic development.[12]

Representational gestures

Representational gestures refer to an object, person, location, or event with hand movement, body movement, or facial expression.[13] Unlike deictic gestures, representational gestures portray a specific meaning and do not change meaning in different contexts.[13][14] They are created based on an agreed context within child-adult interactions.[13] Children can produce representational gestures at 10 to 24 months of age.[15] Young American children will produce more deictic gestures than representational gestures,[13] but Italian children will produce almost equal amounts of representational and deictic gestures.[14] During the two-word utterance stage, it is very unlikely to see a young child produce a representational gesture-word combination since it is very cognitively demanding for young children to retrieve two symbols.[7][16] Representational gestures can be divided into iconic and conventional gestures which have influences on language acquisition.

Iconic gestures

Iconic gestures have clear relation to the action, object, or attribute they portray.[7] Iconic gestures are the most common form of representational gesture in Italian children.[7][16] Children will copy the iconic gestures they see their parents using,[14] therefore including iconic gestures when measuring representational vocabularies boosts the amount of words Italian children know.[7][16] Even though the Italian children produced more iconic gestures, the two-word utterance stage did not come faster.[7] There is an increase in iconic gesturing after the two-word utterance stage at 26 months.[15] Children are able to create novel iconic gesture when they were attempting to inform the listener. Iconic gestures aided language development after the two-word utterance stage, whereas deictic gestures did not.[16]

Conventional gestures

Culture-specific gestures such as shaking your head "no" or waving "goodbye" are considered conventional gestures.[13] Although American children do not typically produce many representational gestures, conventional gestures are most frequently used.[7][16]

Timeline of gesture development

Like most developmental timelines it is important to consider that no two children develop at the same pace. Infant gesture is thought to be an important part of the prelinguistic period and prepares a child for the emergence of language.[17] It has been suggested that language and gesture develop in interaction with one another.[18] It is believed that gestures are easier to produce for both infants and adults;[18] this is supported by the fact that infants begin to communicate with gestures before they can produce words.[17] The first type of gestures that appear in infants are deictic gestures.[17] Deictic gestures include pointing, which is often the most common gesture produced at ten months of age.[15][19] At eleven months of age children can produce a sequence of 2 gestures, usually a deictic gesture with a conventional or representational gesture.[20] and by twelve months of age children can begin to produce 3-gestures in sequence usually a representational or conventional gesture that is preceded and followed by a deictic gesture.[20] Around twelve months of age, infants begin to use representational gestures.[17] In relation to language acquisition, representational gestures appear around the same time as first words.[19] At age 18 months children produce mostly deictic gestures, followed by representational gestures.[21] Between the first and second year of life, children begin to learn more words and use gestures less.[19] At 26 months of age, there is an increase in iconic gesture use and comprehension.[20] Gestures become more complex as children get older. Between age 4-6 children can use whole body gestures when describing a route.[20] A whole body gesture occurs in three-dimensional space and is used when the speaker is describing a route as if they are on it.[20] At ages 5–6, children also describe a route from a bird's eye view and use representational gestures from this point of view.[20] The ways in which gestures are used are an indication of the developmental or conceptual ability of children.[22]

Augmentative and alternative communication

Not only do gestures play an important role in the natural development of spoken language, but they also are a major factor in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). AAC refers to the methods, tools, and theories to use non-standard linguistic forms of communication by and with individuals without or with limited functional speech.[6] Means used to communicate in AAC can span from high-tech computer-based communication devices, to low-tech means such as one-message switches, to non-tech means such as picture cards, manual signs, and gestures.[6] It is only within the last two decades that the importance of gestures in the cognitive and linguistic development processes has been examined, and in particular the gesture's functionality for individuals with communication disorders, especially AAC users.

In those who are unable to effectively communicate verbally and rely on AAC, gestural representations play a more important and dominant role. According to Loncke, "AAC just uses a natural phenomena in an organized and systematic way".[6] Not only has research asserted that gestures aid in retrieving spoken language, but they are a successful, low-tech mode of communication without substantial costs. Moreover, they provide the AAC user with an initial lexicon to communicate his/her basic needs, thoughts, and emotions to other individuals. In all, gestures are utilized in diverse manners with AAC users rather than what is often thought of with the average individual. However, the activation of such gestures allows these users to reach higher potentials and institute beneficial communication.


See also

Citations

  1. ^ Namy, Laura L.; Waxman, Sandra R. (1998-04-01). "Words and Gestures: Infants' Interpretations of Different Forms of Symbolic Reference". Child Development. 69 (2): 295–308. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06189.x. ISSN 1467-8624.
  2. ^ a b Kovács, Ágnes Melinda; Tauzin, Tibor; Téglás, Ernő; Gergely, György; Csibra, Gergely (2014-11-01). "Pointing as Epistemic Request: 12-month-olds Point to Receive New Information". Infancy. 19 (6): 543–557. doi:10.1111/infa.12060. ISSN 1532-7078. PMC 4641318. PMID 26568703.
  3. ^ Goodwyn, Susan W.; Acredolo, Linda P.; Brown, Catherine A. (2000-06-01). "Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development". Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 24 (2): 81–103. doi:10.1023/A:1006653828895. ISSN 0191-5886.
  4. ^ a b Özçalışkan, Şeyda; Goldin-Meadow, Susan (2005-07-01). "Gesture is at the cutting edge of early language development". Cognition. 96 (3): B101 – B113. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.01.001.
  5. ^ a b c McNeill, David (1992). Hand and Mind: What Gestures Reveal About Thought. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 295–328.
  6. ^ a b c d Loncke, F. (2013). Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Models and applications for educators, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, caregivers, and users. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing Inc.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Iverson, Jana M.; Capirci, Olga; Volterra, Virginia; Goldin-Meadow, Susan (2008-05-01). "Learning to talk in a gesture-rich world: Early communication in Italian vs. American children". First Language. 28 (2): 164–181. doi:10.1177/0142723707087736. ISSN 0142-7237. PMC 2744975. PMID 19763226.
  8. ^ ""sorry" American Sign Language (ASL)". www.lifeprint.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  9. ^ Vallotton, Claire (2012). "Support or competition? Dynamic development of the relationship between manual pointing and symbolic gestures from 6 to 18 months of age". In Colletta, Jean-Marc; Guidetti, Michele (eds.). Gesture and Multimodal Development. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. pp. 27–48. ISBN 9789027273925.
  10. ^ Cochet, Helene; Vauclair, Jacques (2012). "Pointing gesture in young children: Hand preference and language development". In Colletta, Jean-Marc; Guidetti, Michele (eds.). Gesture and Multimodal Development. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. pp. 7–26. ISBN 9789027273925.
  11. ^ a b c Butterworth, George (1998). "What is special about pointing in babies?". In Simion, Francesca; Butterworth, George (eds.). The Development of Sensory, Motor, and Cognitive Capacities in Early Infancy. United Kingdom: Psychology Press Ltd. pp. 171–190. ISBN 0-86377-512-8.
  12. ^ Morgenster, Aliyah; Caet, Stephanie; Collumbel-Leroy, Marie; Limousin, Fanny; Blondel, Marion. (2012). "From gesture to sign and from gesture to word". In Colletta, Jean-Marc; Guidetti, Michele. Gesture and Multimodal Development. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. pp. 49–78. ISBN 9789027273925.
  13. ^ a b c d e Iverson, Jana M.; Capirci, Olga; Caselli, M. Cristina (1994-01-01). "From communication to language in two modalities". Cognitive Development. 9 (1): 23–43. doi:10.1016/0885-2014(94)90018-3.
  14. ^ a b c Iverson, Jana M.; Capirci, Olga; Longobardi, Emiddia; Cristina Caselli, M. (1999-01-01). "Gesturing in mother-child interactions". Cognitive Development. 14 (1): 57–75. doi:10.1016/S0885-2014(99)80018-5.
  15. ^ a b c Behne, Tanya; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael. "Young children create iconic gestures to inform others". Developmental Psychology. 50 (8): 2049–2060. doi:10.1037/a0037224.
  16. ^ a b c d e Gullberg, Marianne (2010). Gestures in Language Development. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co. pp. 3–33.
  17. ^ a b c d De Bot, Kees; Gullberg, Marianne (2010). Gestures in Language Development. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. pp. 6–11. ISBN 9789027222589.
  18. ^ a b Kendon, Adam; Gullberg, Marianne; Seyfeddinipur, Mandana (2014). From Gesture In Conversation To Visible Action As Utterance: Essays In Honor Of Adam Kendon. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 332. ISBN 9789027212153.
  19. ^ a b c Stefanini, Silvia; Bello, Arianna; Caselli, Maria Cristina; Iverson, Jana M.; Volterra, Virginia (2009-02-01). "Co-speech gestures in a naming task: Developmental data". Language and Cognitive Processes. 24 (2): 168–189. doi:10.1080/01690960802187755. ISSN 0169-0965.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Ishino, Mika; Stam, Gale (2011). Integrating Gestures : The Interdisciplinary Nature of Gesture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. pp. 111–112. ISBN 9789027228451.
  21. ^ Fasolo, Mirco; D'Odorico, Laura (2012). "Gesture-plus-word combinations, transitional forms, and language development". Gesture. doi:10.1075/gest.12.1.01fas.
  22. ^ Iverson, Jana M.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan (2005-05-01). "Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development". Psychological Science. 16 (5): 367–371. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01542.x. ISSN 0956-7976. PMID 15869695.
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