ERIC Number: EJ1455293
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Nov
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1522-7227
EISSN: EISSN-1522-7219
The Link between Early Iconic Gesture Comprehension and Receptive Language
Isil Dogan; Demet Özer; Asli Aktan-Erciyes; Reyhan Furman; Ö. Ece Demir-Lira; Seyda Özçaliskan; Tilbe Göksun
Infant and Child Development, v33 n6 e2552 2024
Children comprehend iconic gestures relatively later than deictic gestures. Previous research with English-learning children indicated that they could comprehend iconic gestures at 26 months, a pattern whose extension to other languages is not yet known. The present study examined Turkish-learning children's iconic gesture comprehension and its relation to their receptive vocabulary knowledge. Turkish-learning children between the ages of 22- and 30-month-olds (N = 92, M = 25.6 months, SD = 1.6; 51 girls) completed a gesture comprehension task in which they were asked to choose the correct picture that matched the experimenter's speech and iconic gestures. They were also administered a standardized receptive vocabulary test. Children's performance in the gesture comprehension task increased with age, which was also related to their receptive vocabulary knowledge. When children were categorized into younger and older age groups based on the median age (i.e., 26 months--the age at which iconic gesture comprehension was present for English-learning children), only the older group performed at chance level in the task. At the same time, receptive vocabulary was positively related to gesture comprehension for younger but not older children. These findings suggest a shift in iconic gesture comprehension at around 26 months and indicate a possible link between receptive vocabulary knowledge and iconic gesture comprehension, particularly for children younger than 26 months.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Infants, Toddlers, Turkish, Nonverbal Communication, Receptive Language, Vocabulary Development, Language Acquisition, Age Differences, Child Development
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Turkey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A