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Information status predicts the incidence of gesture in discourse : An experimental study

Debreslioska, Sandra LU and Gullberg, Marianne LU orcid (2022) In Discourse Processes 59(10). p.791-827
Abstract
This study aimed to disentangle the influence of information status and referential form on the distribution of gestures in sustained discourse. Previous research shows that new/less accessible rather than old/more accessible information, expressed by rich rather than lean referential forms, is more likely to be accompanied by gestures. However, earlier studies have drawn on correlational results. This study probes the relationship between information status and gesture production experimentally. Participants retold stories referring to discourse entities as normal (Control), using only lexical noun phrases (NOUN condition), or only pronouns (PRONOUN condition). The results from the experimental conditions showed that speakers tend to... (More)
This study aimed to disentangle the influence of information status and referential form on the distribution of gestures in sustained discourse. Previous research shows that new/less accessible rather than old/more accessible information, expressed by rich rather than lean referential forms, is more likely to be accompanied by gestures. However, earlier studies have drawn on correlational results. This study probes the relationship between information status and gesture production experimentally. Participants retold stories referring to discourse entities as normal (Control), using only lexical noun phrases (NOUN condition), or only pronouns (PRONOUN condition). The results from the experimental conditions showed that speakers tend to produce gestures with re-introduced rather than maintained referents regardless of referential form. The findings suggest that there is a strong and direct relationship between information status and gesture production when referential forms are controlled for, lending further support to a view of speech and gesture as an integrated system. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
gesture, discourse, information status, reference, speech-gesture relationship, speech-gesture alignment, referential form, German
in
Discourse Processes
volume
59
issue
10
pages
37 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85133368067
ISSN
0163-853X
DOI
10.1080/0163853X.2022.2085476
project
Embodied bilingualism (a Wallenberg Scholar project)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
86021b17-60a1-41e1-98a3-7cbe532c3a17
date added to LUP
2022-05-24 08:48:50
date last changed
2025-03-07 19:35:42
@article{86021b17-60a1-41e1-98a3-7cbe532c3a17,
  abstract     = {{This study aimed to disentangle the influence of information status and referential form on the distribution of gestures in sustained discourse. Previous research shows that new/less accessible rather than old/more accessible information, expressed by rich rather than lean referential forms, is more likely to be accompanied by gestures. However, earlier studies have drawn on correlational results. This study probes the relationship between information status and gesture production experimentally. Participants retold stories referring to discourse entities as normal (Control), using only lexical noun phrases (NOUN condition), or only pronouns (PRONOUN condition). The results from the experimental conditions showed that speakers tend to produce gestures with re-introduced rather than maintained referents regardless of referential form. The findings suggest that there is a strong and direct relationship between information status and gesture production when referential forms are controlled for, lending further support to a view of speech and gesture as an integrated system.}},
  author       = {{Debreslioska, Sandra and Gullberg, Marianne}},
  issn         = {{0163-853X}},
  keywords     = {{gesture; discourse; information status; reference; speech-gesture relationship; speech-gesture alignment; referential form; German}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{791--827}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Discourse Processes}},
  title        = {{Information status predicts the incidence of gesture in discourse : An experimental study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2022.2085476}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/0163853X.2022.2085476}},
  volume       = {{59}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}