Speakers sometimes express information in gestures that they do not express in speech. In this research, we developed a system that could be used to assess the redundancy of gesture and speech in a narrative task. We then applied this system to examine whether children and adults produce non-redundant gesture–speech combinations at similar rates. The coding system was developed based on a sample of 30 children. A crucial feature of the system is that gesture meanings can be assessed based on form alone; thus, the meanings speakers express in gesture and speech can be assessed independently and compared. We then collected narrative data from a new sample of 17 children (ages 5–10), as well as a sample of 20 adults, and we determined the average proportion of non-redundant gesture–speech combinations produced by individuals in each group. Children produced more non-redundant gesture–speech combinations than adults, both at the clause level and at the word level. These findings suggest that gesture–speech integration is not constant over the life span, but instead appears to change with development.
Purpose This study investigated understanding of mathematical equivalence in children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Method A total of 34 children (ages 8;1 [years;months] to 11;7), including 9 with expressive SLI (E-SLI), 8 with expressive and receptive SLI (ER-SLI), and 17 age-matched typically developing (TD) children completed addition and mathematical equivalence problems. The problem-solving strategies revealed in solutions and in gestural and verbal explanations were coded. Results The children with SLI were less accurate than their TD peers in solving addition and equivalence problems. None of the children in the ER-SLI group solved the equivalence problems correctly; however, the number of children who solved any of the equivalence problems correctly did not differ in the E-SLI and TD groups. Children in the ER-SLI group tended to express incorrect strategies for solving the equivalence problems in both gesture and speech, whereas children in the E-SLI group often expressed correct strategies in gestures, but incorrect strategies in speech. Conclusion Children with SLI showed delays in their knowledge of mathematical equivalence. Children with ER-SLI displayed greater delays than children with E-SLI. Children with E-SLI sometimes expressed more advanced knowledge in gestures, suggesting that their knowledge is represented in a nonverbal format.
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