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Form and function in early communication: language and pointing gestures
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|December 1, 1984
Summary
This study found that language development in toddlers does not replace pointing gestures. Instead, functional aspects of gesture and language show correspondences, suggesting language acquisition is independent of gestural development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The relationship between gesture and language acquisition is a key area in understanding child development.
- Previous theories proposed that language might replace gesture as verbal skills improve, or that they develop independently.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between pointing gestures and language development in 2-year-olds.
- To test hypotheses about gesture-language replacement, developmental correspondences, and the independence of language acquisition.
Main Methods:
- Contrasted pointing gestures of verbally advanced 2-year-olds with less advanced peers.
- Measured both formal and functional aspects of gestural and linguistic communication.
Main Results:
- Formal and functional aspects of gesture and language were largely unrelated, especially within the gestural domain.
- No evidence was found that language replaces gesture during development (ontogeny).
- Correspondences were observed only between the functional aspects of gesture and language.
Conclusions:
- Language acquisition appears to be independent of advances in gestural development.
- Functional aspects of gesture and language development are related, but formal aspects are not.
- Findings challenge theories suggesting language replaces gesture as verbal skills advance.