Why Gesture?

How the hands function in speaking, thinking and communicating

Editors

Ruth Breckinridge Church | Northeastern Illinois University

Martha W. Alibali | University of Wisconsin - Madison

Spencer D. Kelly | Colgate University

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027228499 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027265777 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00

Co-speech gestures are ubiquitous: when people speak, they almost always produce gestures. Gestures reflect content in the mind of the speaker, often under the radar and frequently using rich mental images that complement speech. What are gestures doing? Why do we use them? This book is the first to systematically explore the functions of gesture in speaking, thinking, and communicating – focusing on the variety of purposes served for the gesturer as well as for the viewer of gestures. Chapters in this edited volume present a range of diverse perspectives (including neural, cognitive, social, developmental and educational), consider gestural behavior in multiple contexts (conversation, narration, persuasion, intervention, and instruction), and utilize an array of methodological approaches (including both naturalistic and experimental). The book demonstrates that gesture influences how humans develop ideas, express and share those ideas to create community, and engineer innovative solutions to problems.

[Gesture Studies, 7] 2017. vii, 433 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/gs.7

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Understanding gesture: Description, mechanism and function

Spencer D. Kelly, R. Breckinridge Church and Martha W. Alibali | pp. 3–10

Chapter 2. Representational gestures help speakers package information for speaking

Martha W. Alibali, Amelia Yeo, Autumn B. Hostetter and Sotaro Kita | pp. 15–37

Chapter 3. Function and processing of gesture in the context of language

Aslı Özyürek | pp. 39–58

Chapter 4. The asymmetric redundancy of gesture and speech

J.P. de Ruiter | pp. 59–75

Chapter 5. Gesture-speech unity: What it is, where it came from

David McNeill | pp. 77–101

Chapter 5 Supplement. Exchange on gesture-speech unity: What it is, where it came from

Renia Lopez-Ozieblo and David McNeill | pp. 103–125

Section 2. The function of gesture for cognition and social interaction

Chapter 6. The function of gesture in learning and memory

Susan Wagner Cook and Kimberly M. Fenn | pp. 129–153

Chapter 7. Gestures highlight perceptual-motor representations in thinking

Autumn B. Hostetter and Rebecca Boncoddo | pp. 155–174

Chapter 8. One function of gesture is to make new ideas: The action-cognition transduction hypothesis

Mitchell J. Nathan | pp. 175–196

Chapter 9. Gesture in socio-moral reasoning

Leanne Beaudoin-Ryan | pp. 197–212

Chapter 10. Multi-modal communication of common ground: A review of social functions

Judith Holler and Janet Bavelas | pp. 213–240

Part 2. The function of gesture comprehension

Chapter 11. Exploring the boundaries of gesture-speech integration during language comprehension

Spencer D. Kelly | pp. 243–265

Chapter 12. Computational gesture research: Studying the functions of gesture in human-agent interaction

Stefan Kopp | pp. 267–284

Chapter 13. Making and breaking common ground: How teachers use gesture to foster learning in the classroom

Mitchell J. Nathan, Martha W. Alibali and R. Breckinridge Church | pp. 285–316

Chapter 14. The function of gesture in mathematical and scientific discourse in the classroom

Melissa Singer | pp. 317–329

Chapter 15. Gesture’s role in learning interactions: A focus on clinical populations

Eve S. LeBarton and Jana M. Iverson | pp. 331–351

Chapter 16. The sound of silence: The functions of gestures in pauses in native and non-native interaction

Gale Stam and Marion Tellier | pp. 353–377

Part 3. Why gesture? Some theoretical implications

Chapter 17. Understanding gesture as representational action: A functional account of how action and gesture differ with respect to thinking and learning

Miriam A. Novack and Susan Goldin-Meadow | pp. 381–396

Chapter 18. So how does gesture function in speaking, communication, and thinking?

R. Breckinridge Church and Susan Goldin-Meadow | pp. 397–412

Cited by

Cited by 23 other publications

Order by:

Billot-Vasquez, Kiana, Zhongwen Lian, Yukari Hirata & Spencer D. Kelly

2020. Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech. Frontiers in Psychology 11

Bolens, Guillemette

2022. Embodied Cognition, Kinaesthetic Knowledge, and Kinesic Imagination in Literature and Visual Arts. Frontiers in Communication 7

Bryła-Cruz, Agnieszka

2019. Communicative responsibility in non-native speech. Overcoming foreign accent in English in religious discourse. Crossroads. A Journal of English Studies :26(3) ► pp. 4 ff.

Cartmill, Erica A.

2022. Gesture. Annual Review of Anthropology 51:1 ► pp. 455 ff.

Cravotta, Alice, M. Grazia Busà & Pilar Prieto

2019. Effects of Encouraging the Use of Gestures on Speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62:9 ► pp. 3204 ff.

FILE‐MURIEL, RICHARD J.

2023. Phonetics, Phonology, and Usage‐Based Approaches. In The Handbook of Usage‐Based Linguistics, ► pp. 107 ff.

Ienaga, Naoto, Alice Cravotta, Kei Terayama, Bryan W. Scotney, Hideo Saito & M. Grazia Busà

2022. Semi-automation of gesture annotation by machine learning and human collaboration. Language Resources and Evaluation 56:3 ► pp. 673 ff.

Kelly, Spencer D. & Quang‐Anh Ngo Tran

2023. Exploring the Emotional Functions of Co‐Speech Hand Gesture in Language and Communication. Topics in Cognitive Science

Khatin-Zadeh, Omid, Danyal Farsani, Jiehui Hu, Zahra Eskandari, Yanjiao Zhu & Hassan Banaruee

2023. A Review of Studies Supporting Metaphorical Embodiment. Behavioral Sciences 13:7 ► pp. 585 ff.

Kim, Zi Hyun & Hedda Lausberg

2018. Koreans and Germans: Cultural Differences in Hand Movement Behaviour and Gestural Repertoire. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 47:6 ► pp. 439 ff.

Levy, Rachel S. & Spencer D. Kelly

2020. Emotion matters. Gesture 19:1 ► pp. 41 ff.

Masi, Silvia

2020. Exploring meaning-making practices via co-speech gestures in TED Talks. Journal of Visual Literacy 39:3-4 ► pp. 201 ff.

Mlakar, Izidor, Darinka Verdonik, Simona Majhenič & Matej Rojc

2023. Understanding conversational interaction in multiparty conversations: the EVA Corpus. Language Resources and Evaluation 57:2 ► pp. 641 ff.

Nair, Rukmini Bhaya

2022. New Technology, Language and Gesture in Contemporary Indian Political Discourse. In Psychology of Democracy, ► pp. 195 ff.

Sandler, Wendy

2018. The Body as Evidence for the Nature of Language. Frontiers in Psychology 9

Welch, Lise E., Jessica F. Shumway, Jody Clarke-Midura & Victor R. Lee

2022. Exploring Measurement through Coding: Children’s Conceptions of a Dynamic Linear Unit with Robot Coding Toys. Education Sciences 12:2 ► pp. 143 ff.

[no author supplied]

2018. New and recent publications. Gesture 17:3 ► pp. 464 ff.

[no author supplied]

2019. New and recent publications. Gesture 18:1 ► pp. 114 ff.

[no author supplied]

2019. New and recent publications. Gesture 18:2-3 ► pp. 396 ff.

[no author supplied]

2020. New and recent publications. Gesture 19:1 ► pp. 156 ff.

[no author supplied]

2020. New and recent publications. Gesture 19:2-3 ► pp. 365 ff.

[no author supplied]

2022. By the People. In Psychology of Democracy, ► pp. 171 ff.

[no author supplied]

2022. Italian Sign Language from a Cognitive and Socio-semiotic Perspective [Gesture Studies, 9],

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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