Article published In:
GestureVol. 11:1 (2011) ► pp.1–23
Using speech and gesture to introduce new objects to young children
Adults rely on both speech and gesture to provide children with information pertinent to new word meanings. Parents were videotaped introducing new objects to their children (aged 1;6 and 3;0). They introduce these objects in three phases: (1) they establish joint attention on an object; (2) they introduce a label for it; (3) they situate the object conceptually. Parents used labels and gestures to maintain attention on the object; with one-year-olds, they led with gestures to capture the children’s attention. They added supplementary information about objects only after labeling them, again with speech and gesture. They used indicating gestures (point, touch, tap) to identify the objects labeled, their parts, and their properties. They used demonstrating gestures (turning a truck wheel, opening salad tongs) to depict actions and functions they were describing in words. These procedures support children in their construction of meanings for new words.
Keywords: gesture, speech, language acquisition
Cited by
Cited by 73 other publications
Aktar, Evin & Koraly Pérez-Edgar
2020. Infant Emotion Development and Temperament. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 715 ff. 
Amso, Dima & Kristen Tummeltshammer
2020. Infant Visual Attention. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 186 ff.
Azar, Zeynep, Ad Backus & Aslı Özyürek
2020. Language contact does not drive gesture transfer: Heritage speakers maintain language specific gesture patterns in each language. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 23:2 ► pp. 414 ff.
Bahrick, Lorraine E., Robert Lickliter & James T. Torrence Todd
2020. The Development of Multisensory Attention Skills. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 303 ff.
Bornstein, Marc H. & Gianluca Esposito
2020. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Parent–Infant Interactions. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 805 ff.
Bremner, Andrew J.
2020. The Development of Touch Perception and Body Representation. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 238 ff.
Brito, Natalie H.
2020. Dual Language Exposure and Early Learning. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 661 ff.
Brown, Penelope
2014. The interactional context of language learning in Tzeltal. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 51 ff.
Burling, Joseph M. & Hanako Yoshida
2019. Visual Constancies Amidst Changes in Handled Objects for 5‐ to 24‐Month‐Old Infants. Child Development 90:2 ► pp. 452 ff.
Champagne, Frances A.
2020. Dynamic Epigenetic Impact of the Environment on the Developing Brain. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 70 ff.
Cirelli, Laura K. & Sandra E. Trehub
2020. Infants’ Perception of Auditory Patterns. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 214 ff.
Clancy, Patricia M.
2014. The discourse basis of the Korean copula construction in acquisition. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 251 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2014. Two Pragmatic Principles in Language Use and Acquisition. In Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 10], ► pp. 105 ff.
CLARK, EVE V.
2014. Pragmatics in acquisition. Journal of Child Language 41:S1 ► pp. 105 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2015. Common Ground. In The Handbook of Language Emergence, ► pp. 328 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2015. Semantics and Language Acquisition. In The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory, ► pp. 714 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2017. Chapter 2. Becoming social and interactive with language. In Social Environment and Cognition in Language Development [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 21], ► pp. 19 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2018. Conversation and Language Acquisition: A Pragmatic Approach. Language Learning and Development 14:3 ► pp. 170 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2018. Chapter 2. Word meanings and semantic domains in acquisition. In Semantics in Language Acquisition [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 24], ► pp. 22 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2018. First Language Vocabulary Acquisition. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ► pp. 1 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2020. Perspective-taking and pretend-play: Precursors to figurative language use in young children. Journal of Pragmatics 156 ► pp. 100 ff.
CLARK, EVE V.
2023. A gradualist view of word meaning in language acquisition and language use. Journal of Linguistics 59:4 ► pp. 737 ff.
Clark, Eve V.
2023. Language development in the early years. In International Encyclopedia of Education(Fourth Edition), ► pp. 1 ff.
Clark, Eve Vivienne
2017. Semantic Categories in Acquisition. In Handbook of Categorization in Cognitive Science, ► pp. 397 ff.
Clark, Herbert H.
2014. How to talk with children. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 333 ff.
Dagan, Or & Abraham Sagi-Schwartz
2020. Infant Attachment (to Mother and Father) and Its Place in Human Development. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 687 ff.
Esteve-Gibert, Núria & Bahia Guellaï
2018. Prosody in the Auditory and Visual Domains: A Developmental Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology 9
Falck-Ytter, Terje & Emily Jones
2020. Development During Infancy in Children Later Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 128 ff.
Ferrara, Katrina, Malena Silva, Colin Wilson & Barbara Landau
2016. Spatial Language and the Embedded Listener Model in Parents’ Input to Children. Cognitive Science 40:8 ► pp. 1877 ff.
Fischer, Kerstin
Fox, Nathan A., Virginia C. Salo, Ranjan Debnath, Santiago Morales & Elizabeth G. Smith
2020. The Mirror Neuron System and Social Cognition. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 495 ff.
Gabouer, Allison & Heather Bortfeld
2021. Revisiting how we operationalize joint attention. Infant Behavior and Development 63 ► pp. 101566 ff.
Goldin-Meadow, Susan
2014. How gesture helps children learn language. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 157 ff.
Goldin-Meadow, Susan
2014. Widening the lens: what the manual modality reveals about language, learning and cognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 369:1651 ► pp. 20130295 ff.
Goldin-Meadow, Susan
2015. Gesture as a Window onto Communicative Abilities: Implications for Diagnosis and Intervention. Perspectives on Language Learning and Education 22:2 ► pp. 50 ff.
Grassmann, Susanne
2014. The pragmatics of word learning. In Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 10], ► pp. 139 ff.
Gullberg, Marianne
2012. Bilingualism and Gesture. In The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, ► pp. 417 ff.
Hamlin, J. Kiley & Miranda Sitch
2020. Understanding and Evaluating the Moral World in Infancy. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 777 ff.
Hayne, Harlene & Jane S. Herbert
2020. Infant Memory. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 341 ff.
Hespos, Susan J. & Erin M. Anderson
2020. Infant Physical Knowledge. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 363 ff.
Jayaraman, Swapnaa & Linda B. Smith
2020. The Infant’s Visual World. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 549 ff.
Kelly, Barbara F.
2014. Temporal synchrony in early multi-modal communication. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 117 ff.
Kempson, Ruth, Ronnie Cann, Eleni Gregoromichelaki & Stergios Chatzikyriakidis
2016. Language as Mechanisms for Interaction. Theoretical Linguistics 42:3-4
Kurumada, Chigusa & Inbal Arnon
2014. introduction Language acquisition in interaction. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 1 ff.
Lampl, Michelle
2020. Infant Physical Growth. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 40 ff.
Levine, Dani, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek & Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
2020. Infant Word Learning and Emerging Syntax. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 632 ff.
Jeffrey J. Lockman & Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
2020. The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development,
Maurer, Daphne
2020. Visual Development. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 157 ff.
Mennella, Julie A., Catherine A. Forestell, Alison K. Ventura & Jennifer Orlet Fisher
2020. The Development of Infant Feeding. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 263 ff.
Meyer, Meredith, Susan A. Gelman & Sarah M. Stilwell
2015. Frequency and Informativeness of Gestural Cues Accompanying Generic and Particular Reference. Language Learning and Development 11:4 ► pp. 285 ff.
Mitsven, Samantha, Daniel S. Messinger, Jacquelyn Moffitt & Yeojin Amy Ahn
2020. Infant Emotional Development. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 742 ff.
Mumford, Katherine H. & Sotaro Kita
2014. Children Use Gesture to Interpret Novel Verb Meanings. Child Development 85:3 ► pp. 1181 ff.
Newcombe, Nora S.
2020. Early Knowledge About Space and Quantity. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 410 ff.
Nicholas, Maria & Elizabeth Rouse
2021. Learning to read: where should early childhood educators begin?. Literacy 55:1 ► pp. 3 ff.
Oakes, Lisa M.
2020. Infant Categorization. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 381 ff.
Perry, Lynn K., Stephanie A. Custode, Regina M. Fasano, Brittney M. Gonzalez & Jordyn D. Savy
2021. What Is the Buzz About Iconicity? How Iconicity in Caregiver Speech Supports Children's Word Learning. Cognitive Science 45:4
Rachwani, Jaya, Justine Hoch & Karen E. Adolph
2020. Action in Development. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 469 ff.
Reh, Rebecca K. & Janet F. Werker
2020. Infant Speech Perception. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 579 ff.
Richards, John E. & Stefania Conte
2020. Brain Development in Infants. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 94 ff.
Rusnak, Sylvia N. & Rachel Barr
2020. Infant Learning in the Digital Age. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 435 ff.
Salazar-Orvig, Anne, Geneviève de Weck, Rouba Hassan & Annie Rialland
2021. Chapter 1. A dialogical approach to the acquisition and usage of referring expressions. In The Acquisition of Referring Expressions [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 28],
Salazar-Orvig, Anne, Geneviève de Weck, Rouba Hassan & Annie Rialland
2021. Chapter 1. A dialogical approach to the acquisition and usage of referring expressions. In The Acquisition of Referring Expressions [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 28], ► pp. 2 ff.
Suanda, Sumarga H., Meagan Barnhart, Linda B. Smith & Chen Yu
2019. The Signal in the Noise: The Visual Ecology of Parents' Object Naming. Infancy 24:3 ► pp. 455 ff.
Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine S. & Jeffrey J. Lockman
2020. Infant Object Manipulation and Play. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 520 ff.
Tare, Medha & Susan A. Gelman
2014. “We call it as puppy”. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 191 ff.
Turner, Christina & Dominique Knutsen
2021. Audience Design in Collaborative Dialogue between Teachers and Students. Discourse Processes 58:8 ► pp. 703 ff.
van Berkel-van Hoof, Lian, Daan Hermans, Harry Knoors & Ludo Verhoeven
2019. Effects of Signs on Word Learning by Children With Developmental Language Disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62:6 ► pp. 1798 ff.
Warlaumont, Anne S.
2020. Infant Vocal Learning and Speech Production. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 602 ff.
Weisleder, Adriana & Anne Fernald
2014. Social environments shape children’s language experiences, strengthening language processing and building vocabulary. In Language in Interaction [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 12], ► pp. 29 ff.
Yamada, Yasunori, Hoshinori Kanazawa & Yasuo Kuniyoshi
2020. Embodied Brain Model for Understanding Functional Neural Development of Fetuses and Infants. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 3 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
2020. Preface. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. xix ff.
[no author supplied]
2020. Index. In The Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development, ► pp. 833 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.