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- Debreslioska, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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Information status predicts the incidence of gesture in discourse : An experimental study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Discourse Processes. - 0163-853X. ; 59:10, s. 791-827
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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.
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- Debreslioska, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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The semantic content of gestures varies with information status, definiteness and clause structure
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Pragmatics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-2166. ; 168, s. 36-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When speakers mention referents for the first time in discourse, they can also accompany them with gestures. This study explores whether the semantic content expressed by such gestures – whether gestures focus on the entity itself or on an action that the referent is involved in – is related to discourse properties. We consider the potential effects of a referent’s information status (brand-new/inferable), definiteness of the referring expression (indefinite/definite), and the clause structure in which it occurs (more/less specialized for referent introduction). Results suggest that ‘entity’ gestures specifically accompany brand-new referents expressed by indefinite nominals (e.g., indicating the shape of ‘a broom’), and in clause structures specialized for the introduction of referents (e.g., ‘there was a broom’). In contrast, ‘action’ gestures are more likely to occur with inferable referents expressed by definite nominals (e.g., pretending to hold the broom), and in less specialized clause structures focusing on events (e.g., ‘a spoon came flying in). The study highlights the importance of considering variations on the word, clause and discourse levels for understanding the semantic content of gestures.
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- Debreslioska, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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What’s new? : Gestures accompany inferable rather than brand-new referents in discourse
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The literature on bimodal discourse reference has shown that gestures are sensitive to referents’ information status in discourse. Gestures occur more often with new referents/first mentions than with given referents/subsequent mentions. However, because not all new entities at first mention occur with gestures, the current study examines whether gestures are sensitive to a difference in information status between brand-new and inferable entities, and variation in nominal definiteness. Unexpectedly, the results show that gestures are more frequent with inferable referents (hearer-new but discourse-old) than with brand-new referents (hearer- and discourse-new). The findings reveal new aspects of the relationship between gestures and speech in discourse, specifically suggesting a complementary (disambiguating) function for gestures in the context of first mentioned discourse entities. The results thus highlight the multi-functionality of gestures in relation to speech.
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