GESTURE-SPEECH SYSTEM ACROSS DIFFERENT LEARNERS
Gesture is pervasive in human communication. Even very young children use their hands when they speak. Our previous research has shown that gesture acts as a forerunner of change in children’s language and cognitive development, predicting oncoming changes in their speech. We currently examine whether gesture constitutes an integral aspect of the language learning process, remaining preserved across different learners, including:
⦁ Children with ASD vs. Children with Typical Development
⦁ Children with Down Syndrome vs. Children with Typical Development
⦁ Blind vs. Sighted Children
⦁ Monolingual vs. Bilingual Children
⦁ Twin vs. Singleton Children
⦁ Boys vs. Girls
GESTURE-SPEECH SYSTEM ACROSS DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Languages differ widely in how describe different domains of experience. Our previous research has shown that learners of different languages display language-specific patterns in speech at a young age. We currently examine whether gestures show the same language-specific patterns found in speech and what explains similarities and differences in gesture across different languages. We approach these questions by studying learners of different languages, including:
- Monolingual vs. bilingual child and adult speakers of different languages (German, Chinese, Persian, Polish, Spanish, Turkish)
- Blind vs. sighted adult and child speakers of different languages (English, Turkish, Dutch)
- Adult speakers of different dialects of a language (Mandarin, Babao)