Cover not available
Part of
Motion and Space across Languages: Theory and applications
Edited by Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano
[Human Cognitive Processing 59] 2017
► pp. 329–366

Chapter 12
Verb-framed, satellite-framed or in between?

A L2 learner’s thinking for speaking in her L1 and L2 over 14 years

| National Louis University

Crosslinguistic research on motion events shows that Spanish and English speakers have different patterns of thinking for speaking about motion in speech and gesture (Stam 2015). Spanish speakers express Path linguistically and gesturally with verbs, while English speakers express Path linguistically and gesturally with satellites. This chapter investigates whether a second language learner’s thinking for speaking patterns about motion continued to change in her L1 (Spanish) and L2 (English) over a 14-year period. The results indicate that the learner’s gestural expression of Path changed in both her L1 and L2, and her gestural expression of Manner changed in her L2. This change suggests that a pattern acquired in childhood may not be resistant to change after all (Slobin 1996).

Keywords: English, gesture, L2 acquisition, motion events, Spanish, speech, thinking for speaking
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Co-speech gestures
  • 3.Second language acquisition
    • 3.1Learners’ L2 systems
  • 4.Motion events and thinking for speaking
    • 4.1Thinking for speaking and L2 acquisition
  • 5.Study
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Procedures
    • 5.3Coding
    • 5.4Data analysis
      • 5.4.1Speech analysis
      • 5.4.2Gesture rate analysis
      • 5.4.3Speech and gesture analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Speech results
    • 6.2Gesture rate analysis
    • 6.3Speech and gesture analysis
      • 6.3.1Path
      • 6.3.2Manner
      • 6.3.3Speech and gesture interaction
    • 6.4Summary
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 August 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.59.14sta
References
Aske, J.
1989 Path predicates in English and Spanish: A closer look. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 15, 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bailey, N., Madden, C., & Krashen, S. D.
1974 Is there a “natural sequence” in adult second language learning? Language Learning, 24, 235–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bayley, R., & Tarone, E.
2011 Variationist perspectives. In S. Gass, & A. Mackey (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (41–56). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Beavers, J., Levin, B., & Tham, S. W.
2010 The typology of motion expressions revisited. Journal of Linguistics, 46, 331–377. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. A., & Slobin, D. I.
(Eds.) 1994 Relating events in narrative: A crosslinguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. zGoogle Scholar
Brown, A.
2007 Crosslinguistic influence in first and second languages: Convergence in speech and gesture. Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics: MPI Series in Psycholinguistics, 47.Google Scholar
2015 Universal development and L1–L2 convergence in bilingual construal of manner in speech and gesture in Mandarin, Japanese, and English. The Modern Language Journal, 99(Supplement), 66–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, A., & Gullberg, M.
2008 Bidirectional crosslinguistic influence in L1–L2 encoding of manner in speech and gesture: A study of Japanese speakers of English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 225–251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, R.
1973 A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cadierno, T.
2010 Motion in Danish as a second language: Does the learner’s L1 make a difference? In Z.-H. Han, & T. Cadierno (Eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (1–33). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2013 Thinking for speaking in second language acquisition. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cadierno, T., & Lund, K.
2004 Cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition: Motion events in a typological framework. In B. VanPatten, J. Williams, S. Rott, & M. Overstreet (Eds.), Form-meaning connections in second language acquisition (139–154). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Chase, E. A., & Wittman, M. C.
2013 Evidence of embodied cognition via speech and gesture complementarity. American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings, 1513, 94–97.Google Scholar
Choi, S., & Lantolf, J. P.
2008 Representation and embodiment of meaning in L2 communication: Motion events in the speech and gesture of advanced L2 Korean and L2 English speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 191–224. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M.
2007 A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(1), 7–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dombrowsky-Hahn, K.
2012 Motion events in Bambara (Mande). Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 33, 37–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K.
1974 Natural sequences in child second language acquisition. Language Learning, 24(1), 37–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C.
2008 The dynamics of second language emergence: Cycles of language use, language change, and language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 92(2), 232–249. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Feist, M. I., Rojo, A., & Cifuentes, P.
2007 Salience and acceptability in Spanish manner verbs: A preliminary view. International Journal of English Studies, 7, 137–148.Google Scholar
Feiz, P.
2011 Traveling through space in Persian and English: A comparative analysis of motion events in elicited narratives. Language Sciences, 33, 401–416. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freleng, F. (Director)
1950 Canary Row [Animated Film]. New York: Time Warner.Google Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L.
(Eds.) 1992 Language transfer in language learning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S.
2000 Beyond words: The importance of gesture to researchers and learners. Child Development, 71, 231–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S., & Alibali, M. W.
1995 Mechanisms of transition: Learning with a helping hand. In D. Medin (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (117–157). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S., Wein, D., & Chang, C.
1992 Assessing knowledge through gesture: Using children’s hands to read their minds. Cognition and Instruction, 9(3), 201–219. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gullberg, M.
2006 Handling discourse: gestures, reference tracking, and communication strategies in early L2. Language Learning, 56(1), 155–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 Thinking, speaking and gesturing about motion in more than one language. In A. Pavlenko (Ed.), Thinking and speaking in two languages (143–169). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Gullberg, M., & McCafferty, S. G.
2008 Introduction to gesture and SLA: Toward an integrated approach. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 133–146. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Han, Z.-H., & Cadierno, T.
(Eds.) 2010 Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hijazo-Gascón, A., & Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I.
2013 Same family, different paths: Intratypological differences in three Romance languages. In J. Goschler, & A. Stefanowitsch (Eds.), Variation and change in the encoding of motion events (39–54). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I.
2004 Language typologies in our language use: The case of Basque motion events in adult oral narratives. Cognitive Linguistics, 15, 317–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I., & Hijazo-Gascón, A.
2012 Variation in motion events: Theory and applications. In L. Filipović, & K. M. Jaszczolt (Eds.), Space and time in language and cultures. Linguistic diversity (349–371). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iverson, J. M., & Goldin-Meadow, S.
2005 Gesture paves the way for language development. Psychological Science, 16, 367–371. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kellerman, E., & van Hoof, A.-M.
2003 Manual accents. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 41, 251–269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kita, S., & Özyürek, A.
2003 What does cross-linguistic variation in semantic coordination of speech and gesture reveal?: Evidence for an interface representation of spatial thinking and speaking. Journal of Memory and Language, 48, 16–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klein, W., & Perdue, C.
1997 The basic variety (or: couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research, 13(4), 301–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J., Stam, G., Smotrova, T., & Buescher, K.
2014 Teaching thinking for speaking. Paper presented at the XXI Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning Research Working Group Meeting. University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 6–8 November 2014.
Larsen-Freeman, D.
1997 Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 141–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewis, T. N.
2009 The role of motion event gestures in L2 development in a study abroad context. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. N.
2012 The effect of context on the L2 thinking for speaking development of path gestures. L2 Journal, 4, 247–268.Google Scholar
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N.
1999 How languages are learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mayer, M.
1969 Frog, where are you? New York: Dial Press.Google Scholar
McCafferty, S. G.
2008 Mimesis and second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 147–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McNeill, D.
1992 Hand and mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
2005 Gesture and thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 How language began: Gesture and speech in human evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McNeill, D., & Duncan, S.
2000 Growth points in thinking for speaking. In D. McNeill (Ed.), Language and gesture (141–161). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Negueruela, E., Lantolf, J. P., Rehn Jordan, S., & Gelabert, J.
2004 The “private function” of gesture in second language speaking activity: A study of motion verbs and gesturing in English and Spanish. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14, 113–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Özçalışkan, Ş., & Goldin-Meadow, S.
2005 Gesture is at the cutting edge of early language development. Cognition, 96(3), B101–B113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Özçalışkan, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S.
2009 When gesture-speech combinations do and do not index linguistic change. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(2), 190–217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Özyürek, A.
2002 Speech-gesture relationship across languages and in second language learners: Implications for spatial thinking for speaking. In B. Skarabela, S. Fish, & A. H. J. Do (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th annual Boston University conference on language development. Vol. 2 (500–509). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Allen, S., Brown, A., Furman, R., & Ishizuka, T.
2008 Development of cross-linguistic variation in speech and gesture: Motion events in English and Turkish. Developmental Psychology, 44(4), 1040–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A., & Jarvis, S.
2002 Bidirectional transfer. Applied Linguistics, 23, 190–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramat, A. G.
(Ed) 2003 Typology and second language acquisition. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Robinson, P., & Ellis, N. C.
2008 Conclusion: Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and L2 instruction – issues for research. In P. Robinson, & N. C. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition (489–545). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
1996 From “thought and language” to “thinking for speaking”. In J. J. Gumperz, & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (70–96). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
2006 What makes manner of motion salient? Explorations in linguistic typology, discourse, and cognition. In M. Hickmann, & S. Robert (Eds.), Space in languages: Linguistic systems and cognitive categories (59–81). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stam, G.
1998 Changes in patterns of thinking about motion with L2 acquisition. In S. Santi, I. Guaïtella, C. Cavé, & G. Konopczynski (Eds.), Oralité et gestualité: Communication multimodale, interaction (615–619). Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar
2006a Changes in patterns of thinking with second language acquisition. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
2006b Thinking for speaking about motion: L1 and L2 speech and gesture. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 44, 143–169. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007 Second language acquisition from a McNeillian perspective. In E. Levy, S. Duncan, & J. Cassell (Eds.), Gesture and the dynamic dimension of language: Essays in honor of David McNeill (117–124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2008 What gestures reveal about second language acquisition. In S. G. McCafferty, & G. Stam (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research (231–255). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2010 Can a L2 speaker’s patterns of thinking for speaking change? In Z.-H. Han, & T. Cadierno (Eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (59–83). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2013 Second language acquisition and gesture. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Further changes in L2 thinking for speaking? In C. Müller, A. Cienki, E. Fricke, S. H. Ladewig, D. McNeill, & S. Tessendorf (Eds.). Body-language-communication: An international handbook on multimodality in human interaction. Vol. 2 (1875–1886). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 Changes in thinking for speaking: A longitudinal case study. The language and thought of motion in second language speakers. The Modern Language Journal, 99(Supplement), 83–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016 Gesture as a window onto conceptualization in multiple tasks: Implications for second language teaching. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association (GCLA), 4, 289–314.Google Scholar
Stam, G., & McCafferty, S. G.
2008 Gesture studies and second language acquisition: A review. In S. McCafferty, & G. Stam (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research (3–24). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Talmy, L.
1985 Lexicalization patterns: Semantic structure in lexical forms. In T. Shopen (Ed.), Language typology and syntactic description. Vol. 3: Grammatical categories and the lexicon (57–149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
2000 Towards a cognitive semantics. Vol. II: Typology and process in concept structuring. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Yoshioka, K.
2008 Linguistic and gesture introduction of Ground reference in L1 and L2 narrative. In S. G. McCafferty, & G. Stam (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research (211–230). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Yoshioka, K., & Kellerman, E.
2006 Gestural introduction of Ground reference in L2 narrative discourse. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 44, 173–195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Alonso Alonso, Rosa
2020. Boundary-crossing events across languages. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 18:2 ► pp. 316 ff. DOI logo
Jeon, Jeeyoung & Min-Chang Sung
2023. L2 English learners’ verb lexicalization of motion events. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 21:1 ► pp. 266 ff. DOI logo
Kamiya, Nobuhiro
2019. What Factors Affect Learners’ Ability to Interpret Nonverbal Behaviors in EFL Classrooms?. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 43:3 ► pp. 283 ff. DOI logo
Littlemore, Jeannette
2023. What Have Bees, Macaque Monkeys, and Humans Got in Common? Embodied Cognition, Gesture, and Second Language Learning. In Applying Cognitive Linguistics to Second Language Learning and Teaching, ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo
Stam, Gale
2018. Chapter 3. Gesture and speaking a second language. In Speaking in a Second Language [AILA Applied Linguistics Series, 17], ► pp. 49 ff. DOI logo
Stam, Gale, Kimberly Urbanski, James Lantolf & Tetyana Smotrova
2023. How concept-based language instruction works in teaching thinking for speaking in an L2. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 61:1 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 april 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.