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How gestures help children to track reference in narrative

  • Carla Cristilli
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From Gesture in Conversation to Visible Action as Utterance
This chapter is in the book From Gesture in Conversation to Visible Action as Utterance

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the ways in which gestures compensate for children’s difficulties to track reference by linguistic anaphors. The research, carried out on the narratives produced by two groups of Italian children (6 and 10 years old), analyzed both the incidence of representational vs. deictic anaphoric gestures and the functions they both fulfill in relation to linguistic anaphors. Results show that representational strategies play a dominant role in tracking reference in both groups of children; yet, in the far greater majority of cases those produced by younger children disambiguate linguistic anaphoric mistakes, whereas those produced by the older ones make the referents of correct linguistic anaphors more explicit. It is claimed that gesture can compensate for linguistic difficulties; yet, a definition of compensation is given, that is in line with Kendon’s interpretation of speech/gesture relationship.

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the ways in which gestures compensate for children’s difficulties to track reference by linguistic anaphors. The research, carried out on the narratives produced by two groups of Italian children (6 and 10 years old), analyzed both the incidence of representational vs. deictic anaphoric gestures and the functions they both fulfill in relation to linguistic anaphors. Results show that representational strategies play a dominant role in tracking reference in both groups of children; yet, in the far greater majority of cases those produced by younger children disambiguate linguistic anaphoric mistakes, whereas those produced by the older ones make the referents of correct linguistic anaphors more explicit. It is claimed that gesture can compensate for linguistic difficulties; yet, a definition of compensation is given, that is in line with Kendon’s interpretation of speech/gesture relationship.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. A foreword vii
  4. From gesture in conversation to visible action as utterance 1
  5. Part I. Gaze and face
  6. Including facial gestures in gesture-speech ensembles 15
  7. Mutual gaze and recognition 35
  8. Part II. Manual gestures – quotable gestures and pointing
  9. Gesture in the communicative ecology of a South African township 59
  10. The emblem as metaphor 75
  11. Pointing, talk, and the bodies 95
  12. Part III. Manual gestures – their nature and relationship to language
  13. Gesture as “deliberate expressive movement” 127
  14. On the lower limit of gesture 153
  15. Part IV. Language evolution
  16. The word according to Adam 177
  17. The intelligibility of gesture within a framework of co-operative action 199
  18. Part V. Sign systems
  19. Signs and space in Arandic sand narratives 219
  20. Different strokes 245
  21. Gesture in all its forms 289
  22. Part VI. Children language development
  23. The development of two pragmatic gestures of the so-called Open Hand Supine family in Italian children 311
  24. How gestures help children to track reference in narrative 331
  25. Gestures and multimodal development 351
  26. Name index 371
  27. Subject index 373
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.188.15cri

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. A foreword vii
  4. From gesture in conversation to visible action as utterance 1
  5. Part I. Gaze and face
  6. Including facial gestures in gesture-speech ensembles 15
  7. Mutual gaze and recognition 35
  8. Part II. Manual gestures – quotable gestures and pointing
  9. Gesture in the communicative ecology of a South African township 59
  10. The emblem as metaphor 75
  11. Pointing, talk, and the bodies 95
  12. Part III. Manual gestures – their nature and relationship to language
  13. Gesture as “deliberate expressive movement” 127
  14. On the lower limit of gesture 153
  15. Part IV. Language evolution
  16. The word according to Adam 177
  17. The intelligibility of gesture within a framework of co-operative action 199
  18. Part V. Sign systems
  19. Signs and space in Arandic sand narratives 219
  20. Different strokes 245
  21. Gesture in all its forms 289
  22. Part VI. Children language development
  23. The development of two pragmatic gestures of the so-called Open Hand Supine family in Italian children 311
  24. How gestures help children to track reference in narrative 331
  25. Gestures and multimodal development 351
  26. Name index 371
  27. Subject index 373
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