gestures in communication.docx
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gestures in communication.docx
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gesturesincommunication
TheImportanceofGesturesinCommunication
Susana
Substract
Gesturingisarobustphenomenon,foundacrosscultures,ages,andtasks.Gestureisevenfoundinindividualsblindfrombirth.Butwhatpurpose,ifany,doesgestureserve?
Inthisreview,Ibeginbyexamininggesturewhenitstandsonitsown,substitutingforspeechandclearlyservingacommunicativefunction.Whencalledupontocarrythefullburdenofinternationalcommunication,gestureassumesalanguage-likeform,withstructureatwordandsentencelevels.However,whenproducedalongwithspeech,gestureassumesadifferentform–itbecomesimagisticandanalog.Despiteitsform,thegesturethataccompaniesspeechalsocommunicates.Trainedcoderscangleansubstantiveinformationfromgesture–informationthatisnotalwaysidenticaltothatgleanedfromspeech.Gesturecanthusserveasaresearchtool,sheddinglightonspeakers’unspokenthoughts.Isuggestgestureservesasbothatoolforcommunicationforlisteners,andatoolforthinkingforspeakers.
Agestureisaformofnon-verbalcommunicationinwhichvisiblebodilyactionscommunicateparticularmessages,eitherinplaceofspeechortogetherandinparallelwithspokenwords.Gesturesincludemovementofthehands,face,orotherpartsofthebody.Gesturesdifferfromphysicalnon-verbalcommunicationthatdoesnotcommunicatespecificmessages,suchaspurelyexpressivedisplays,proxemics,ordisplaysofjointattention.[1]Gesturesallowindividualstocommunicateavarietyoffeelingsandthoughts,fromcontemptandhostilitytoapprovalandaffection,oftentogetherwithbodylanguageinadditiontowordswhentheyspeak.Gestureshavebeenstudiedthroughoutthecenturiesfromdifferentviewpoints.[3]QuintillianintheantiquitystudiedinhisInstitutionOratoriahowgesturemaybeusedinrhetoricaldiscourse.AnotherbroadstudyofgesturewaspublishedbyJohnBulwerin1644.[4]Bulweranalyzeddozensofgesturesandprovidedaguideonhowtousegesturestoincreaseeloquenceandclarityforpublicspeaking.AndreaDeJoriopublishedanextensiveaccountofgesturalexpressionin1832.[5]Today,oneofthemostprominentresearchersinthefieldofgestureresearchisAdamKendon.Hehasinvestigatedmanyaspectsofgestures,includingtheirroleincommunication,conventionalizationofgesture,integrationofgestureandspeech,andtheevolutionoflanguage.[6]OtherprominentresearchersinthisfieldincludeSusanGoldin-MeadowandDavidMcNeill.SusanGoldin-Meadow(2003)hasintensivelyinvestigatedtheroleofgestureinproblemsolvinginchildren.[7]DavidMcNeill(1992,2006)[8]hasdevelopedabroadtheoryabouthowgestureandspeecharepartofasinglethoughtprocess.Yetjustbecauseofthis,anyonewishingtokeepabreastofdevelopmentsinthestudyofgesturecanhavedifficulty.Thereisnooneplacetowhichsomeoneinterestedingesturecanturntofindoutwhatisgoingon,andthereisnooneplacewherethedebatesanddiscussionsinthisareacanreadilybefollowed.Studiesbeginninginthelate1970swhichtookfulladvantageofsynchronizedsoundfilmand,later,videotechnology,thatmadepossibleapreciseanalysisofthewayinwhichtheactivitiesofspeakingandgesturingarecoordinated,haveledtothewidespreadrecognitionthatgestureandspokenexpressionareintimatelyconnected.Theprecisenatureofthisrelationshipandjusthowitistobeaccountedfortheoreticallyisstillamatterofdebate,butascertainrecentpublicationshavemadeclear(Messing&Campbell,1999;McNeill,2000)anewapproachtoanunderstandingofthepsychologyoflanguageisbeingdeveloped.Recentworkongesturehasalsobeguntothrowlightontheroleplayedbyourcorporealengagementwiththeworldthroughbasicpracticalactionsinprovidingtheframeworkofhumancognitionandconceptualdevelopment.
Culturesmaydifferinthekindsofuseandthedegreeofimportancethatthisformofexpressionmayhave.Atthesametime,ofcourse,itiswidelyassumedthattheuseofgestureasapartofutteranceisauniversalfeatureofhumanexpression.Justhowandinwhatwaysculturaldifferencesintheuseandelaborationofgesturemodifytheuniversalcharacterofgesturalexpressionremainsatopicthathasbeenverylittlestudiedbutwhich,nevertheless,isofverygreatinterestsince,ifwehadabetterunderstandingofit,wemightbetterunderstandjusthowindividuallyimprovisedformsofexpressionmayneverthelessbemodifiedandshapedbytherequirementsofsociallysharedcommunicationsystems.Anumberofrecentstudieshaveattemptedtoexploretheextenttowhichtheremaybedifferencesingestureusethataretiedtolexicalandgrammaticaldifferencesinspokenlanguages.Itisthoughtthatsuchdifferences,iftheycouldbeestablished,couldsuggestdifferencesinthewayinwhichthoughtandconceptualizationmaybeshapedbylanguagedifferences.Thisworkisstillinaquiteearlystageofdevelopmentbutitpromisestobeanaspectofgesturestudiesthatmayhaveveryimportantimplicationsfortheoriesabouttherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthought.Oneissuethatneedsmuchmoreattentionthanithasreceivedhithertoisthequestionofhowspeakersdifferfromonekindofdiscoursesituationtoanotherinhowtheyusegesture.Theemergenceofcommunicationsystemswhichdependongesturealoneindeedwillcomeaboutwheneverpeopleareotherwiseunabletousespeech,whetherforenvironmentalreasons,asjustmentioned,ritualreasons(asinthecaseofcertaintribesincentralAustralia,forexample,orincertainChristianmonasticorderswherespeechisprohibitedonreligiousgrounds—seeKendon1988;Umiker-Sebeok&Sebeok1987),orphysiologicalreasons.Here,ofcourse,werefertotheelaborationofgestureintolanguagesystemsbythedeafandinDeafcommunities.Thestudyofthishasbeenofgreatinteresttomanyscholarssinceatleasttheeighteenthcentury,buttodaythelinguisticstudyofsuchsignlanguageshasnowbecomeawell-establishedpartofthelinguisticenterprise.GESTUREdoesnotseektocompetewithjournalssuchasSignLanguageStudiesorSignLanguageandLinguisticsforwedonotexpecttopublishpapersonsignlanguageofapurelylinguisticsort.However,thereisnodoubtthatthereisanintimateconnectionbetweenthegeneralhumanfacultyofgesturalexpressionandsignlanguagesandthewholequestionoftherelationshipbetweengesturesusedbyspeaker-hearersandsignsinsignlanguages,andalsothequestionofwhether,andhow,adistinctionmaybedrawnbetween‘gesture’and‘sign’withinthecontextofDeafsigning,aremattersofgreatinterestforgesturestudiesandreportsofworkthatdealwithissueslikethesewillbeverywelcomeindeedinthepagesofGESTURE.Despitetheintimaterelationshipbetweenspokenexpressionandgesturalexpression,gestureremainsanactivitythatexploitsthevisualmediumforthecreationofmeaningfulforms.Assuch,althoughitmayfulfilllanguage-likefunctionsandcollaborateinanintimatewaywithspokenlanguage,italsohasanimportantroleinallkindsofvisualexpressiveformsthatarenotlinguistic.Thusgestureisofcentralimportanceinthevisualarts.Notsurprisingly,thereisalongtraditionofinterestingesturebyarthistorians,andthestudyofgesturesinpaintings,photographs,drawings,cartoons,andthelikehasalsobeguntoattracttheinterestofculturalhistoriansforitseemsthatthesecanbeasourceforourunderstandingofhistoricaldifferencesinconventionsofbodilyexpressionandhowthesearerelatedtohistoricalchangeincultures.Verylittleofthisworkisknown,however,tostudentsofgesturefrompsychology,linguisticsorcognitivestudies.WehopethatGESTUREwillhavetheopportunitytoserveasamediatorbetweenthesedifferentapproachestothesubjectDespitetheintimaterelationshipbetweenspokenexpressionandgesturalexpression,gestureremainsanactivitythatexploitsthevisualmediumforthecreationofmeaningfulforms.Assuch,althoughitmayfulfilllanguage-likefunctionsandcollaborateinanintimatewaywithspokenlanguage,italsohasanimportantroleinallkindsofvisualexpressiveformsthatarenotlinguistic.Thusgestureisofcentralimportanceinthevisualarts.Notsurprisingly,thereisalongtraditionofinterestingesturebyarthistorians,andthestudyofgesturesinpaintings,photographs,drawings,cartoons,andthelikehasalsobeguntoattracttheinterestofculturalhistoriansforitseemsthatthesecanbeasourceforourunderstandingofhistoricaldifferencesinconventionsofbodilyexpressionandhowthesearerelatedtohistoricalchangeincultures.Verylittleofthisworkisknown,however,tostudentsofgesturefrompsychology,linguisticsorcognitivestudies.WehopethatGESTUREwillhavetheopportunitytoserveasamediatorbetweenthesedifferentapproachestothesubjectLikewise,thepractitionersofthedramaticarts—intheatre,inballet,opera,andcinema—havelongknowntheimportanceofgesture.Ratherlittleappearstohavebeendoneintermsofasystematicanalysisofthisbranchofthearts,buttherearesomescholarsactivelyinterestedinthisandwehopethatGESTUREwillattracttheirinterestasaplaceforpublication.Atthesametime,webelievethatsystematicstudiesofgestureinthedramaticartswouldbeofimmenseimportanceforfurtheringourunderstandingofhowgestureworksaspartofthearsenalofhumanexpressiveinstruments.
Finally,andmostrecently,thephenomenonofgesturehasattractedtheinterestofdesignersofhuman-computerinterfaces.Thepossibilitythatwemight,oneday,interactwithcomputers
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