Gesture and the dynamic dimension of language essays in honor of David McNeill (J. Benjamins Pub. Co., 2007)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction: the dynamic dimension of language -- On the origins of modern gesture studies -- Gesture with speech and without it -- From gestures to signs in the acquisition of sign language -- How does spoken language shape iconic gestures? -- Forgetful or strategic? the mystery of the systematic avoidance of reference in the cartoon story narrative -- Metagesture: an analysis of theoretical discourse about multimodal language -- Potential cognitive universals: evidence from head movements in Turkana -- Blending in deception: tracing output back to its source -- A dynamic view of metaphor, gesture and thought -- Second language acquisition from a McNeillian perspective -- Face-to-face dialogue as a micro-social context: the example of motor mimicry -- Master speakers, master gesturers: a string quarter master class -- Constructing spiral conceptualizations from limited input: evidence from Norwegian sign language -- Environmentally coupled gestures -- Indexing locations in gesture: recalled stimulus image and interspeaker coordination as factors influencing gesture form -- The role of iconic gesture in semantic communication ands its theoretical and practical implications -- Intersubjectivity in gestures: the speaker's perspective toward the addressee -- An integrated approach to the study of convention, conflict, and compliance in interaction -- Discourse focus, gesture, and disfluent aphasia -- The construction of a temporally coherent narrative by an autistic adolescent: co-contributions of speech, enactment and gesture -- The body in communication: lessons from the near-human
Each of the 21 chapters in this volume reflects a view of language as a dynamic phenomenon with emergent structure, and in each, gesture is approached as part of language, not an adjunct to it. In this, all of the authors have been influenced by David McNeill's methods for studying natural discourse and by his theory of the human capacity for language. The introductory chapter by Adam Kendon contextualizes McNeill's research paradigm within a history of earlier gesture studies. Chapters in the first section, Language and Cognition, emphasize what McNeill refers to as the intrapersonal plane. M.