Gesture - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2014

This paper describes the organisation of kinesic ensembles associated with negation in speech through a qualitative study of negative utterances identified in face-to-face conversations between English speakers. All the utterances contain a verbal negative particle (no, not, nothing, etc.) and the kinesic ensembles comprise Open Hand Prone gestures and head shakes, both associated with the expression of negation in previous studies (e.g., Kendon, 2002, 2004; Calbris, 1990, 2011; Harrison, 2009, 2010). To analyse how these elements relate to each other, the utterances were studied in ELAN annotation software with separate analytical tiers for aspects of form in both speech and gestures. The micro-analysis of the temporal and semantic coordination between tiers shows that kinesic ensembles are organized in relation to the node, scope, and focus of negation in speech. Speakers coordinate gesture phrase structures of both head and hand gestures in relation to the grammar of verbal negation, and the gestures they use share a core formational feature that expresses a negative semantic theme in line with the expression of negation in the verbal utterance. The paper demonstrates these connections between grammar and gesture and sheds light on the mechanics of ‘multimodal negation’ at the utterance level.

Swedish children’s use of the headshake from 18 to 30 months shows a developmental progression from rote-learned and formulaic coordination with speech to increasingly more flexible and productive coordination with speech. To deal with these observations, I make use of the concept of multimodal constructions, to extend usage-based approaches to language learning and construction grammar by inclusion of the kinetic domain. These ideas have consequences for the (meta‑)theoretical question of whether gesture can be said to be part of language or not. I suggest that some speech-coordinated gestures, including the headshake, can be considered part of language, also in the traditional sense of language as a conventionalized system.

The study of the expression of negation in longitudinal adult-child data is a privileged locus for a multimodal approach to language acquisition. In the case of bilingual language acquisition, the necessity to enter two languages at once might have an influence on the management of the visual-gestural and the auditory modalities. In order to tackle these issues, we analyze the longitudinal data of Antoine, a bilingual French/Italian child recorded separately once a month for an hour with his Italian mother and with his French father between the ages of 1;5 and 3;5.Our analyses of all his multimodal utterances with negations show that Antoine has created efficient transitional systems during his developmental path both by combining modalities and by mixing his two native languages. The visual-gestural modality is a stable resource to rely on in all the types of linguistic environments Antoine experiences. His bilingual environment could be connected to the creation of his mixed verbal productions also addressed to both French speaking and Italian speaking interlocutors. Those two transitory creative systems are efficient elements of his communicative repertoire during an important period of his language development. Gesture might therefore have a compensatory function for that little boy. It is a wonderful resource to communicate efficiently in his specific environment during his multimodal, multilingual entry into language.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role of gestures on novel word learning in preschoolers. In Study 1, 20 children at the average age of 4;9 years were given novel words under 3 conditions: with support of iconic gestures; arbitrary gestures; no gestures, exemplifying a within-subject design. Results indicate scaffolding effects of both types of gestures in comparison to the control condition. No indication of gesture type effects could be observed even in children who were old enough to understand the iconicity of iconic gestures. Study 2 was implemented to further test the scaffolding effect of gestures vs. no gestures in children with SLI (n = 20) — but this time only iconic gestures were used. A between-subjects design was followed, using matched groups. Slow mapping was observed in addition to fast mapping within a 5-week-intervention period. Results confirm the scaffolding effect of iconic gestures on slow mapping in the clinical sample.

This study assesses methodological reporting practices in multimodal viewpoint research using the 51 primary studies previously synthesized by Stec (2012). These studies were coded for the designs and reporting practices associated with the collection and analysis of multimodal data in order to facilitate a discussion on current reporting practices. Results point to several systematic strengths, as well as to several systematic weaknesses. I discuss these trends in light of methodological reviews in other fields (e.g., Plonsky, 2013) and make a number of suggestions for reforming reporting practices with an aim to increase transparency and replicability.