Hand preference in referential gestures: Relationships to accessing words for speaking in monolingual and bilingual children

Nicoladis, Elena; Dueck, Bryce S.; Zarezadehkheibari, Shiva

doi:10.1002/brb3.2121

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 92 publications

(128 reference statements)

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“…We predicted that bilinguals would use fewer right-hand gestures than monolinguals, particularly if they learned the language before the age of six [28]. As for language ability, we predicted that we would find that word types were a positive predictor and vocabulary scores a negative predictor of the degree of right-hand preference in gesturing, as found for preschoolers [42]. For sex, we predicted that males would produce more right-handed gestures than females, as in [21].…”

Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As for language proficiency, following [42], we included two measures of language proficiency: word types and vocabulary scores. We predicted that word types would be a positive predictor and vocabulary a negative predictor, as in [42]. Our results showed that language proficiency was not a significant predictor of right-handed gestures in either English or French.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study with preschoolers tested how two measures of language proficiency were related to the percentage of right-hand referential gestures used while telling a story [42]: vocabulary scores and word types (i.e., the number of unique words produced to tell the story). Referential gestures refer to the categories of both iconic gestures and abstract points (e.g., pointing to the left to indicate where a story character had gone).…”

Section: Language Lateralization and Language Proficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, as in [42], we also included two measures of language ability: vocabulary and word types. If the results of [42] generalize to adults, we should also find that vocabulary is a negative predictor and words types a positive predictor of the degree of right-hand gesture production in English and French.…”

Section: Language Lateralization and Language Proficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hand Preference in Adults’ Referential Gestures during Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Sex and Age

Nicoladis

Shirazi

2021

Symmetry

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Previous studies have shown that gestures are mediated by the left hemisphere. The primary purpose of this study was to test whether most gestures are also asymmetrical, i.e., produced with the right hand. We also tested four predictors of the degree of right-hand gesture use: bilingualism, language ability, sex, and age. These factors have been related to differences in the degree of language lateralization. English monolinguals, French–English bilinguals, and French monolinguals watched a cartoon and told the story back. For the gestures they produced while speaking, we calculated the percentage produced with the right hand. As predicted, the majority of gestures were right-handed (60%). Bilingualism, language ability, and age were not significantly related to hand choice in either English or French. In English, males tended to produce more right-handed gestures than females. These results raise doubts as to whether hand preference in gestures reflects speech lateralization. We discuss possible alternative explanations for a right-hand preference.

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Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Language Lateralization and Language Proficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Language Lateralization and Language Proficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hand Preference in Adults’ Referential Gestures during Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Sex and Age

Nicoladis

Shirazi

2021

Symmetry

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Hand Preference in Children’s Referential Gestures During Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Age, and Sex

Nicoladis

Gourlay

2022

DEV

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Adults, preschool children, and infants gesture more with their right hand than with their left hand. Since gestures and speech are related in production, it is possible that this right-hand preference reflects left-hemisphere lateralization for gestures and speech. The primary purpose of the present study was to test if children between the ages of 6 and 10 years show a right-hand preference in referential gestures while telling a story. We also tested four predictors of children’s degree of right-hand preference: 1) bilingualism, 2) language proficiency, 3) age, and 4) sex. Previous studies have shown that these variables are related to the degree of speech lateralization. Twenty-five English monolingual (17 girls; Mage = 8.0, SDage = 1.4), 21 French monolingual (12 girls; Mage = 7.3, SDage = 1.4,) and 25 French-English bilingual (11 girls; Mage = 8.5, SDage = 1.4) children watched a cartoon and told the story back. The bilinguals did this once in each language. The referential gestures were coded for handedness. Most of the participants showed a right-hand preference for gesturing. In English, none of the predictor variables was clearly related to right-hand preference. In French, the monolinguals showed a stronger right-hand preference than the bilinguals. These inconsistent findings across languages raise doubts as to whether the right-hand preference is linked to lateralization for speech.

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Verb-Mediated Prediction in Bilingual Toddlers

2021

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Prediction is an important mechanism for efficient language processing. It has been shown that as a part of sentence processing, both children and adults predict nouns based on semantically constraining verbs. Language proficiency is said to modulate prediction: the higher proficiency, the better the predictive skill. Children growing up acquiring two languages are often more proficient in one of them, and as such, investigation of the predictive ability in young bilingual children can shed light on the role of language proficiency. Furthermore, according to production-based models, the language production system drives the predictive ability. The present study investigates whether bilingual toddlers predict upcoming nouns based on verb meanings in both their languages, and whether this ability is associated with expressive vocabulary. Seventeen Norwegian-English bilingual toddlers (aged 2;5–3;3), dominant in Norwegian, participated in the study. Verb-mediated predictive ability was measured via a visual world paradigm (VWP) experiment, including sentences with semantically constraining and neutral verbs. Expressive vocabulary was measured by MacArthur-Bates CDI II. The results suggested that the toddler group predicted upcoming noun arguments in both their dominant and non-dominant languages, but were faster in their dominant language. This finding highlights the importance of language dominance for predictive processing. There was no significant relationship between predictive ability and expressive vocabulary in either language.

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Hand preference in referential gestures: Relationships to accessing words for speaking in monolingual and bilingual children

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 4 publications

References 92 publications

Hand Preference in Adults’ Referential Gestures during Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Sex and Age

Hand Preference in Adults’ Referential Gestures during Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Sex and Age

Hand Preference in Children’s Referential Gestures During Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Age, and Sex

Verb-Mediated Prediction in Bilingual Toddlers

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