Li3 Michaelmas 2024

• What is the definition of gestures?

  A form of non-verbal communication
• What are gestures that accompany speech called?

  Speech-accompanying gestures
• What did McNeill & Levy categorize gestures into?

  Four types of gestures
• What are the four types of gestures identified by McNeill & Levy?

  Iconic, metaphoric, deictic, beats
• What does iconic gesture do?

  Present images
• What do metaphoric gestures represent?

  Images of abstract ideas/events
• What is the function of deictic gestures?

  Pointing
• What are beats in gestures?

  Flicks that beat time/rhythm of speech
• What did Tomasello et al. (2007) find about adult pointing?

  It has many layers of intentionality
• What are the two types of intentions in adult pointing according to Tomasello et al.?

  Social motive and communicative intention
• When do children's gestures improve?

  In the last quarter of the first year
• What are the signs of improvement in children's gestures?

  Eye-gaze, persistent pointing, clear pointing
• What types of gestures do children use early on?

  Culturally conventional and iconic gestures
• When do children typically start using metaphoric gestures?

  Around 12 years
• What happens during the one-word stage of gesture use?

  Children may gesture without vocalizing
• What is semantic coherence?

  Using context and relationships for understanding
• What is temporal synchrony in gestures?

  When speech and gestures express the same information
• Give an example of temporal synchrony across languages.

  "Rolling down the hill" vs "descends the hill by rolling"
• What happens to gesture frequency during the one-to-two word stage?

  Gesture frequency decreases towards the end
• How does caregiver input affect gesture acquisition?

  Caregivers gesture less frequently when talking
• What did Landau & Gleitman (1985) find about parental gestures?

  Parental gesture is not the only influence
• Who conducted studies on the relation between gesture and speech?

  Goodwyn & Acredolo, Rowe et al
• What did Goodwyn & Acredolo (1993) find about children and gestures?

  No children found words easier than gestures
• What did Rowe et al. (2008) discover about gesture use?

  Gesture use at 14 months predicts vocabulary size
• What are ways to measure a child's vocabulary?

  Recording, diaries, questionnaires
• Why was a better method than interval recordings needed?

  It took too long for small samples
• How do children break down speech streams?

  By familiar words and syllables
• What is the ability of children to discriminate minimal pairs?

  Present at six months, lost by four to six years
• What anatomical constraints affect child speech learning?

  Baby vocal tract configuration and tongue position
• What did Stoel-Gammon (2011) find about vocal development stages?

  Predictable and universal stages during the first year
• What is babbling according to Piaget?

  A kind of secondary circular reaction
• What are features of babbling?

  Reduced sounds, CV syllabic organization
• What did Locke (1983) and McCune & Vihman (2001) find about babbling?

  Nasals and stops produced by jaw movement
• What did Levitt & Aydelot Utman (1991) compare in babbling?

  French and American babble
• What did McCune & Vihman (2001) study about babbling?

  Voluntary control over consonants in babbling
• What did Ferguson and Farwell (1975) find about first words?

  Early words show relative accuracy then regression
• What is a gestalt?

  An organized whole perceived as more than parts
• How is first language acquisition defined?

  The process of knowing and using caregiver language
• What foundations are required for language acquisition?

  Biological, cognitive, social foundations
• What are biological foundations for language acquisition?

  Left hemisphere specialized for language