Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Introduction and methods
- Part II Results
- Part III Additional studies
- 10 Spatial language addressed to children
- 11 Geocentric gestures before language?
- 12 Spatial organization schemes
- 13 Neurophysiological correlates of geocentric space
- 14 Geocentric dead reckoning
- Part IV Conclusions
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Name index
- Subject Index
11 - Geocentric gestures before language?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Introduction and methods
- Part II Results
- Part III Additional studies
- 10 Spatial language addressed to children
- 11 Geocentric gestures before language?
- 12 Spatial organization schemes
- 13 Neurophysiological correlates of geocentric space
- 14 Geocentric dead reckoning
- Part IV Conclusions
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Name index
- Subject Index
Summary
A major question of our research is how early children are able to use a geocentric FoR, either in language (when describing a spatial array) or in other cognitive tasks (such as encoding a spatial array in memory). Much of our data suggests that, in the children we have studied in Bali, India and Nepal, a geocentric FoR is predominant, is used very early, and further increases with age. The study reported in this chapter seeks further evidence for the precocity of a geocentric FoR expressed through gestures, before geocentric language is available. Iverson and Goldin-Meadow (2005) state:
In development, children often use gesture to communicate before they use words … The fact that gesture allows children to communicate meanings that they may have difficulty expressing verbally raises the possibility that gesture serves a facilitating function for language learning. If so, changes in gesture should not only predate but also predict changes in language. (p. 367)
These authors provide empirical research that supports this assumption, and conclude:
Our findings underscore the tight link between gesture and speech, even in children at the earliest stages of language learning. At minimum, gesture is a harbinger of change in the child's developing language system, as it is in other cognitive systems later in development (Goldin-Meadow, 2003). Gesture may even pave the way for future developments in language. (p. 370)
Following this lead, we hope to use gestures to clarify which spatial FoR is used before it is expressed clearly in language.
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- Development of Geocentric Spatial Language and CognitionAn Eco-cultural Perspective, pp. 242 - 247Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010