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

Mats Andrén

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)141-170
JournalGesture
Volume14
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Comparative Language Studies and Linguistics

Free keywords

  • development
  • language
  • gesture
  • construction grammar
  • semiotics

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  • CCS: Centre for Cognitive Semiotics (RJ)

    Lenninger, S. (Researcher), Sonesson, G. (PI), Toyota, J. (Researcher), Brinck, I. (Researcher), Kopp, L. (Researcher), Holmer, A. (Researcher), Karlsson, A. (Researcher), Tayanin, D. (Researcher), Carling, G. (Researcher), Håkansson, G. (Researcher), Blomberg, J. (Researcher), Zlatev, J. (PI), Henningsson, L.-Å. (Researcher), Andrén, M. (Researcher), Sayehli, S. (Researcher), Strandviken, T. (Researcher), Parthemore, J. (Researcher), Persson, T. (Researcher), Cabak Rédei, A. (Researcher), Madsen, E. A. (Researcher), Hornborg, A. (Researcher), Andrén, M. (Researcher), Henningsson, L.-Å. (Researcher), Kopp, L. (Researcher), Tayanin, D. (Researcher) & Toyota, J. (Researcher)

    2009/01/012014/12/31

    Project: Research

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