Co-speech gesture as input in verb learning.
People gesture a great deal when speaking, and research has shown that listeners can interpret the information contained in gesture. The current research examines whether learners can also use co-speech gesture to inform language learning. Specifically, we examine whether listeners can use information contained in an iconic gesture to assign meaning to a novel verb form. Two experiments demonstrate that adults and 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children can infer the meaning of novel intransitive verbs from gestures when no other source of information is present. The findings support the idea that gesture might be a source of input available to language learners.
Goodrich
Whitney
W
Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA. wgoodrich@berkeley.edu
Hudson Kam
Carla L
CL
D002675:Child, Preschool; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult