The influence of hand gestures on reading comprehension

Hand gestures used in conjunction with speech can provide more concrete and accurate information than through speech alone (Wang, Bernas, & Eberhard, 2004). The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of hand gestures on reading comprehension. To examine this hypothesis the researcher designed an eight week study, incorporating the use of hand gestures into the reading lessons and collected data. Eleven second grade students participated in reading lessons which included vocabulary development, a reading strategy focus and practice, and reading of weekly story selection. Data derived from pre and post-reading/comprehension assessments, weekly comprehension tests, and Theme Skills tests showed that the participants’ reading comprehension had increased through the use of hand gestures during reading instruction of new vocabulary words and reading strategies

Children's Gestures from 18 to 30 Months

This thesis concerns the nature of the gestures performed by five Swedish children. The children are followed from 18 to 30 months of age: an age range which is characterized by a rapid succession of developmental changes in children's abilities to communicate by means of both spoken language and gesture. There are few studies of gesture in children of these ages, making it essential to ask a number of basic questions: What sort of gestural actions do the children perform? How does the use of gesture change over time, from 18 to 30 months of age? How are the gestures performed in coordination with speech? The answers provided to these questions are both quantitative and qualitative in kind. Several transitions in the use of gesture are identified, relating to developmental changes in the organization of speech — highlighting the symbiotic relationship between gesture and speech in the communicative ecology. Considerable attention is paid to the even more basic question of what sort of actions qualify for the label "gesture". Instead of treating gestural qualities as a matter of a binary distinction between actions counting as gesture and those that do not, a multi-level approach is advocated. This approach allows for descriptions of gestures in terms of several different levels of complexity. Furthermore, a distinction is made between levels of communicative explicitness on the one hand, and levels of semiotic complexity on the other. This distinction allows for the recognition that some gestural actions are semiotically complex, without being explicitly communicative, and vice versa: that some gestural actions are explicitly communicative, without being semiotically complex. The latter is particularly consequential for this thesis, since a large number of communicative gestural actions reside in the borderland between practical action and expressive gesture. Hence, the gestures analyzed include not only the prototypical "empty-handed" gestures, but also gestures that involve handling of physical objects. Overall, the role of conventionality in children's gestures is underscored. The approach is (a) cognitive in the sense that it pays attention to the knowledge and bodily skills involved in the performance of the gestures, (b) social and interactive in the sense that it views gestures as visible and accountable parts of mutually organized social activities, and (c) semiotic in the sense that the analysis tries to explicate how signification is brought about, in contrast to treating the meanings of gestures as transparently given, the way participants themselves often do when engaged in social interaction

Pantomime (Not Silent Gesture) in Multimodal Communication: Evidence From Children’s Narratives

Pantomime has long been considered distinct from co-speech gesture. It has therefore been argued that pantomime cannot be part of gesture-speech integration. We examine pantomime as distinct from silent gesture, focusing on non-co-speech gestures that occur in the midst of children’s spoken narratives. We propose that gestures with features of pantomime are an infrequent but meaningful component of a multimodal communicative strategy. We examined spontaneous non-co-speech representational gesture production in the narratives of 30 monolingual English-speaking children between the ages of 8- and 11-years. We compared the use of co-speech and non-co-speech gestures in both autobiographical and fictional narratives and examined viewpoint and the use of non-manual articulators, as well as the length of responses and narrative quality. The use of non-co-speech gestures was associated with longer narratives of equal or higher quality than those using only co-speech gestures. Non-co-speech gestures were most likely to adopt character-viewpoint and use non-manual articulators. The present study supports a deeper understanding of the term pantomime and its multimodal use by children in the integration of speech and gesture

Cross-linguistic influence in adult multilingualism The acquisition of L3 Norwegian morphosyntax by L1 Spanish - L2 English speakers

The current thesis investigated the topic of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) at three different developmental stages of adult third language (L3) acquisition of Norwegian by sequential first language (L1) Spanish – second language (L2) English speakers (n = 18). Using a mixed methods approach consisting of a grammaticality judgment task and a closed-ended questionnaire on linguistic proximity, the study tested the acquisition of four Norwegian morphosyntactic properties: (i) post-nominal possessives gender agreement, (ii) number concord on definite articles, (iii) adjective placement, and (iv) subject pronoun expression (SPE). Based on the subtracted language groups experimental design (Westergaard et al., forthcoming), L3 learners’ performance was compared to the ones of Spanish (n = 5) and English (n = 13) L2 learners of Norwegian. The study also counted with a native group (n = 15). Predictions were grounded on five main L3A models, all which diverge in terms of the source (L1, L2, or both) and nature (holistic or property-by-property) of CLI. Altogether, results were consistent with the L1 Factor (Hermas, 2010, 2014), as findings indicated L3 learners’ performance was solely influenced by their L1 Spanish, whereas both the linguistic proximity and psychotypology were overridden. In two of the conditions, the L1 Spanish groups performed significantly different from the L1 English group, having outperformed the latter in the treatment of possessives gender agreement, indicating facilitative CLI from L1 Spanish, and being outperformed by the same in the judgement of SPE sentences, indicating nonfacilitative CLI from L1 Spanish. On the other two conditions, all learning groups performed alike, showing overall either high or low rates of accuracy. These last findings suggested the linguistic complexity and frequency of input of individual properties to be an important triggering factor of CLI. Finally, the L3 proficiency level was found to be a strong factor in CLI, as transfer effects were observed to be more salient at beginner (A1) and elementary (A2) L3 proficiency stages as compared to the pre-intermediate (B1) level

Editorial:self-domestication and human evolution

The human self-domestication hypothesis, which traces back to Darwin himself, has experienced a recent resurgence in interest as an account for how modern human behaviors, morphology, and culture might have evolved. Although modern humans exhibit many shared features with other closely-related species, there is evidence of a distinct suite of derived physical, cognitive, and behavioral traits which are indicative of a domestication-like process. In order to understand the evolutionary path toward these distinct human traits, we need refined evolutionary models that provide mechanistic accounts for the multiple feedback loops that occur between cultural and biological evolutionary processes, whereby selection pressures for modern human traits, including language, may have affected cultural practice, which, in turn, created niches that impacted their biological evolution. With recent advances in the field, the present volume brings together an exciting range of theoretical perspectives that aspire to this goal

Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptomatology in Verbal Children with Williams Syndrome

Many genetic disorders of known etiology share behavioral characteristic with the autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including language delays, social difficulties, and unusual patterns of behavior. There exist tendencies to either over- or under-pathologize these similarities, resulting in both false diagnoses and diagnostic overshadowing. Recent findings in Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder often contrasted with ASDs, have demonstrated a significant overlap between these two phenotypes in young children with limited language. Using a gold-standard autism diagnostic tool, the ADOS, the present study aimed to further characterize the nature of socio-communicative behaviors in verbal children with WS, both within WS and in comparison to children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and developmental conditions of mixed etiology (ME). Results indicated that approximately one-third of the children with WS met threshold for classification on the autism spectrum. There were a number of items on which the children classified ASD and those classified non-spectrum received different scores, such as conversation difficulties, quality of social overtures including integrated eye contact and facial expressions, and play behaviors. Consistent with previous studies, children with WS who have significant socio-communicative difficulties (i.e., those classified ASD ) demonstrate a behavioral profile similar to that seen in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. Implications for understanding the nature of the behavioral pattern in WS, and in genetic disorders in general, will be discussed

Communicative and linguistic factors influencing language development at 30 months of age in preterm and full-term children: a longitudinal study using the CDI

Introduction: Previous studies showed that very preterm children have a delay in communicative (gestures) and linguistic development as compared to fullterm children. Earlier use of gestures, as well as of word comprehension and production, have been found to be predictive of subsequent word production and/or language delay in both very preterm and full-term children. Not many studies on communicative antecedents of language, however, have been carried out with low-risk preterm children in comparison to full-term children. Methods: In the present study a sample (N = 142) of low-risk preterm children has been followed using the Galician version of the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) at the ages of 10, 22, and 30 months of age and their results were compared to the results from a sample (N = 49) of full-term children at the same ages. The determinants of language measures (vocabulary and grammar) at 30 months of age have been studied through linear regression analyses. Results: ANOVA results indicate that there were no significant differences between the groups in any of the measures obtained with the CDI at any time, nor were there any differences in lexical or grammatical developmental trajectories between both groups (repeated measures ANOVA). Linear regression analyses showed that the predictors of language at 30 months of age are somewhat different for the full-term than for the preterm group. Discussion: While the use of first communicative gestures at 10 months is a predictor of word production at 30 months of age for the full-term group, participation in games and routines seems to play a significant predictive role for preterm children. Word production at 22 months is the factor with a major incidence on word production at the age of 30 months for both groups. Previous specific measures of grammatical development have a clear determinant role in grammar measures at 30 months of age for the full-term children, while in the case of preterm children previous lexical development seems to be more relevantThis research was funded by the Ministerio Economía Industria y Competitividad of the Spanish Government (Grants PSI2008-03905, PSI2011-23210, and PSI2015-66697-R to MP-P). Funds for open access publication fees were received from the Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional -Xunta de GaliciaS

May Sasabihin ang Kabataan ‘The Youth Have Something to Say’: Youth perspectives on language shift and linguistic identity

This position paper brings youth perspectives to the forefront of academic discourse about language shift and linguistic identity, framed in the larger intersecting conversations about language endangerment, maintenance and revitalization, the breakdown and rebuilding of intergenerational transmission, and the changing late modern landscapes in which youth linguistic identities emerge. At the core of this paper is the question, “What can be done about language shift?” My contribution to the answers is a call for further integration of youth perspectives into these academic discourses, most especially (but not exclusively) perspectives written by young scholars who are speaker-members of communities in which language shift is occurring. Such integration allows us to gain nuanced understandings of youth perceptions about language shift in their communities, the effects on their linguistic identities, and their motivations for reclaiming (or letting go of) their ancestral/heritage languages. This is a work in which I overtly take professional and personal stances, drawing upon my own experiences as a member of a Filipino diaspora in which language shift is currently taking place. @font-face { font-family: baybayin; src: url('../../../../static/Baybayin_UMon.ttf');} p.baybayin {font-family: baybayin;} ᜁᜆᜓᜅ᜔ ᜃᜐᜓᜎᜆᜅ᜔ ᜁᜆᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜈᜄ᜔ᜊᜒᜊᜒᜄᜌ᜔ ᜇᜒᜁᜈ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜒᜇ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜉᜒᜃ᜔ᜆᜒᜊᜓ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜃᜊᜆᜀᜈ᜔ ᜇᜒᜆᜓ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜆᜎᜃᜌ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜅ᜔ᜀᜃᜇᜒᜋ᜔ᜌ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜎᜒᜎᜒᜉᜆ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜐ ᜁᜐᜅ᜔ ᜑᜒᜈᜒᜇᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜐ ᜐᜓᜐᜓᜈᜓᜇ᜔ ᜈ ᜑᜒᜈᜒᜇᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜆᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜃᜃᜒᜎᜈ᜔ᜎᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ᜶ ᜈᜒᜎᜎᜄᜌ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜁᜆᜓᜅ᜔ ᜃᜐᜓᜎᜆᜅ᜔ ᜁᜆᜓ ᜐ ᜎᜓᜂᜊ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜋᜐ᜔ ᜋᜎᜎᜃᜒᜅ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜆᜎᜃᜌ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜅ᜔ᜀᜃᜇᜒᜋ᜔ᜌ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜏᜎ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜐ ᜊᜓᜂᜅ᜔ ᜇᜁᜄ᜔ᜇᜒᜄ᜵ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜉᜉᜈᜆᜒᜎᜒ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜊᜊᜄᜓᜅ᜔ᜐᜒᜊᜓᜎ᜔᜵ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜐᜒᜇ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜋᜓᜎᜒᜅ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜆᜆᜄᜓᜌᜓᜇ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜉᜉᜇᜎ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃᜆ᜔ ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ᜆᜓᜇ ᜐ ᜁᜐᜅᜓ ᜑᜒᜈᜒᜇᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜐ ᜐᜓᜐᜓᜈᜓᜇ᜔ ᜈ ᜑᜒᜈᜒᜇᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔᜵ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜊᜊᜄᜓ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜃᜎᜄᜌᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜃᜊᜄᜓᜅ᜔ ᜇᜁᜄ᜔ᜇᜒᜄ᜔ ᜈ ᜇᜓᜂᜈ᜔ ᜎᜓᜋᜎᜊᜐ᜔ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜃᜃᜒᜎᜈ᜔ᜎᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜃᜊᜆᜀᜈ᜔᜶ ᜈᜐ ᜉᜒᜈᜃᜉᜓᜈᜓ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜃᜐᜓᜎᜆᜈ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜆᜈᜓᜅ᜔ ᜈ᜵ ᜀᜈᜓ ᜃᜌ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜉᜓᜏᜒᜇᜒᜅ᜔ ᜄᜏᜒᜈ᜔ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜎᜒᜎᜒᜉᜆ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜐ ᜐᜓᜐᜓᜈᜓᜇ᜔ ᜈ ᜑᜒᜈᜒᜇᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔᜶ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜐᜄᜓᜆ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜁᜐᜅ᜔ ᜀᜈᜓᜈ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜌᜓ ᜈ ᜇᜉᜆ᜔ ᜋᜄ᜔ᜃᜇᜓᜂᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜐ᜔ ᜋᜇᜋᜒᜅ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜐᜐᜋᜐᜋ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜒᜇ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜉᜒᜃ᜔ᜆᜒᜊᜓ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜃᜊᜆᜀᜈ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜆᜎᜃᜌ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜅ᜔ᜀᜃᜇᜒᜋ᜔ᜌ᜵ ᜎᜎᜓ ᜈ ᜵ᜐᜓᜊᜎᜒᜆ᜔ ᜑᜒᜈ᜔ᜇᜒ ᜁᜃ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜃ᜔ᜎᜓᜐᜒᜊᜓ᜵ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜉᜒᜇ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜉᜒᜃ᜔ᜆᜒᜊᜓᜅ᜔ ᜁᜐᜒᜈᜓᜎᜆ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜊᜆᜅ᜔ ᜋᜄ᜔ᜀᜀᜇᜎ᜔ ᜈ ᜐᜒᜎ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜃᜐᜉᜒ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜐᜋ᜔ᜊᜌᜈᜈ᜔ ᜈ ᜁᜆᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜋᜌ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜎᜒᜎᜒᜉᜆ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ᜵ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜁᜆᜓᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜋᜄ᜔ᜀᜀᜇᜎ᜔ ᜈ ᜁᜆᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜋᜇᜓᜈᜓᜅ᜔ ᜋᜄ᜔ᜐᜎᜒᜆ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜐᜋ᜔ᜊᜌᜈᜈ᜔ ᜵ᜂ ᜃᜌ ᜈᜁᜁᜈ᜔ᜆᜒᜈ᜔ᜇᜒᜑᜈ᜔ ᜈᜒᜎ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ᜵᜶ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜃᜐᜋᜐᜋ ᜈᜒᜆᜓ᜵ ᜋᜄᜒᜄᜒᜅ᜔ ᜋᜐ᜔ ᜋᜎᜎᜒᜋ᜔ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜂᜈᜏ ᜈᜆᜒᜈ᜔ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜅ᜔ᜂᜈᜏ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜃᜊᜆᜀᜈ᜔ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜎᜒᜎᜒᜉᜆ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜐ ᜋᜅ ᜐᜋ᜔ᜊᜌᜈᜈ᜔ ᜈᜒᜎ᜵ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜃᜎᜎᜊ᜔ᜐᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜃᜃᜃᜒᜎᜈ᜔ᜎᜈ᜔ ᜈᜒᜎ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜏᜒᜃ᜵ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜆᜓᜅ᜔ᜃᜓᜎ᜔ ᜐ ᜉᜄ᜔ᜄᜈ᜔ᜌᜃ᜔ ᜈᜒᜎ ᜃᜓᜅ᜔ ᜊᜃᜒᜆ᜔ ᜄᜓᜐᜆᜓ ᜈᜒᜎᜅ᜔ ᜁᜊᜎᜒᜃ᜔ ᜐ ᜋᜊᜓᜆᜒᜅ᜔ ᜃᜎᜄᜌᜈ᜔ ᜵ᜂ ᜃᜌᜌ᜔ ᜉᜏᜎᜁᜈ᜔᜵ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜋᜒᜈᜋᜈ ᜈᜒᜎᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ᜶ ᜄᜒᜈᜄᜋᜒᜆ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜉᜈᜒᜈᜒᜈ᜔ᜇᜒᜄᜅ᜔ ᜉ᜔ᜇᜓᜉᜒᜐ᜔ᜌᜓᜈᜎ᜔ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜉᜈ᜔ᜐᜇᜒᜎᜒ ᜐ ᜃᜐᜓᜎᜆᜅ᜔ ᜁᜆᜓ᜵ ᜄᜒᜈᜄᜋᜒᜆ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜀᜃᜒᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ ᜃᜇᜈᜐᜈ᜔᜵ ᜇᜑᜒᜎ᜔ ᜀᜃᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜃᜐᜉᜒ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜐᜋ᜔ᜊᜌᜈᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜉᜒᜈᜓᜌ᜔ ᜈ ᜏᜎ ᜐ ᜉᜒᜎᜒᜉᜒᜈᜐ᜔᜵ ᜀᜆ᜔ ᜈᜄ᜔ᜊᜊᜄᜒ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜀᜋᜒᜅ ᜋᜅ ᜏᜒᜃ᜶ [The Baybayin font above is © Norman de los Santos. To download it for personal, non-commercial use, please visit his site.] Itong kasulatang ito ay nagbibigay diin sa perspektibo ng kabataan dito sa pagtalakay ng pang-akademya tungkol sa paglilipat ng wika sa isang henerasyon at sa susunod na henerasyon at tungkol sa pagkakakilanlan ng wika. Nilalagay ko itong kasulatang ito sa loob ng mga mas malalaking pagtalakay ng pang-akademya tungkol sa pagkawala ng wika sa buong daigdig, sa pagpapanatili at pagbabagong-sibol, sa pagkasira at muling pagtataguyod ng pagpapadala ng wika’t kultura sa isang henerasyon at sa susunod na henerasyon, at sa pagbabago ng kalagayan ng makabagong daigdig na doon lumalabas ang mga pagkakakilanlan ng wika ng mga kabataan. Nasa pinakapuno ng kasulatan ko ang tanong na, “Ano kaya ang puwedeng gawin tungkol sa paglilipat ng wika sa susunod na mga henerasyon?” Ang sagot ko ay isang anunsyo na dapat magkaroon ng mas maraming pagsasama-sama ng perspektibo ng mga kabataan sa pagtalakay ng pang-akademya, lalo na (subali’t hindi eksklusibo) ang mga perspektibong isinulat ng mga batang mag-aaral na sila ay kasapi ng sambayanan na ito ay may paglilipat ng wika, at itong mga mag-aaral na ito ay marunong magsalita ng wika ng sambayanan (o kaya naiintindihan nila ang wika). Sa pagkakasama-sama nito, magiging mas malalim ang pagka-unawa natin tungkol sa pang-unawa ng mga kabataan tungkol sa paglilipat ng wika sa mga sambayanan nila, tungkol sa kalalabsan ng mga pagkakakilanlan nila tungkol sa wika, at tungkol sa pagganyak nila kung bakit gusto nilang ibalik sa mabuting kalagayan (o kaya’y pawalain) ang mga minamana nilang wika. Ginagamit ko ang mga paninindigang propesyonal at pansarili sa kasulatang ito; ginagamit ko ang aking mga karanasan, dahil ako ay kasapi ng sambayanan ng Pinoy na wala sa Pilipinas, at nagbabago ang aming mga wika.National Foreign Language Resource Cente