Poster
Marentette, Paula
(University of Alberta, Edmonton)
Nicoladis, Elena
(University of Alberta, Edmonton)
with
Pika, Simone
Tuck, N.
Lakhani-Vogelsang, N.
Language modality influences the production
of iconic gesture
We believe that modality infl uences the production of iconic gesture.
Our lab at the University of Alberta has been exploring iconic gesture
produced in narrative situations for the past several years. We propose
to present three of these studies as part of a project panel.
Sign language studies have demonstrated the importance of modality
in clarifying the relationship between speech, sign, and language.
The modality question has not been adequately explored in gesture
research. The assumption that anything a speaker does with their
hands is a necessary property of gesture has not been questioned.
Our fi rst study, A comparison of gesture produced by signers and
speakers examines this assumption and fi nds it wanting. We provide
data demonstrating that signers and speakers produce different
distributions of types of gestures and examine the implications for
our understanding of the function of gesture. Signers use gesture to
enhance descriptions of certain types of actions and character traits,
but not objects.
In our second study, Are iconic gestures associated with words or units
larger than words ?, we focus on characteristics of speakers’ language.
Because speech does not encode spatial relationships as well as sign,
we predict that speakers who tell detailed stories will produce more
iconic gestures. We fi nd that iconic gestures are associated with task
diffi culty and enhanced recall, rather than the level of the word.
Finally, our third study Does gesture perspective make some gestures
more transparent than others ? directly compares the iconic gestures
of speakers and signers. through a gesture comprehension study. We test the transparency (ability to guess meaning without lexical support)
of character and observer viewpoint gestures of English speakers
and ASL signers and fi nd that, even when matched for type and
content, ASL signers produce more transparent gestures.
These studies demonstrate that modality affects the relationship
between gesture and language.
