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Multimodal constructions in children : is the headshake part of language?

Andrén, Mats LU (2014) In Gesture 14(2). p.141-170
Abstract
Swedish children’s use of the headshake from 18 to 30 months shows a developmental progression from rote-learned coordination with speech to increasingly more flexible and productive coordination with speech. To deal with these observations, I introduce the concept of multimodal constructions in order to extend usage-based approaches to language learning and construction grammar into the kinetic domain. These ideas have consequences for the (meta-)theoretical question of whether gesture can be said to be part of language or not. I suggest that some speech-coordinated gestures, including the headshake, can be considered part of language, also in the traditional sense of language as a conventionalized system.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
development, language, gesture, construction grammar, semiotics
in
Gesture
volume
14
issue
2
pages
141 - 170
publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
external identifiers
  • wos:000365043200002
  • scopus:84943244642
ISSN
1568-1475
DOI
10.1075/gest.14.2.02and
project
Centre for Cognitive Semiotics (RJ)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7cc4820c-11fc-495e-ad2a-4833c83cb270 (old id 4255754)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:51:07
date last changed
2023-11-28 01:44:42
@article{7cc4820c-11fc-495e-ad2a-4833c83cb270,
  abstract     = {{Swedish children’s use of the headshake from 18 to 30 months shows a developmental progression from rote-learned coordination with speech to increasingly more flexible and productive coordination with speech. To deal with these observations, I introduce the concept of multimodal constructions in order to extend usage-based approaches to language learning and construction grammar into the kinetic domain. These ideas have consequences for the (meta-)theoretical question of whether gesture can be said to be part of language or not. I suggest that some speech-coordinated gestures, including the headshake, can be considered part of language, also in the traditional sense of language as a conventionalized system.}},
  author       = {{Andrén, Mats}},
  issn         = {{1568-1475}},
  keywords     = {{development; language; gesture; construction grammar; semiotics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{141--170}},
  publisher    = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
  series       = {{Gesture}},
  title        = {{Multimodal constructions in children : is the headshake part of language?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/gest.14.2.02and}},
  doi          = {{10.1075/gest.14.2.02and}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}