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Article published In:
Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 17:2 (2019) ► pp.411–437

The source-path-goal image schema in gestures for thinking and teaching

| Lawrence University

This article examines source-path-goal image-schematic structure in gestures used to solve counting problems (gesture for thinking) and to teach children how to read a clock (gesture for teaching). The analyses illustrate how path schemas inherent in idealized cognitive models are exhibited in gesture forms and in gesture sequences and combinations, manifesting conceptual content beyond that articulated in speech. While at times the path structure is incidental, enacting part of a cognitive model that is not the focus of discourse, at other times the path structure is essential, in that listeners must perceive the source-path-goal structure in the gesture in order to construct the proper understanding. The examples support the view that image schemas at the heart of cognitive models partly motivate and structure gestures for cognitive and communicative purposes, and that listener attunement to this structure contributes to intersubjective understanding and the perpetuation of cultural practices for distributed cognition.

Keywords: image schema, cognitive model, gesture, instructional discourse, distributed cognition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Image schemas, cognitive models, and gesture
    • 2.1Image schemas and cognitive models
    • 2.2Image schemas and cognitive models in gesture
  • 3.The present study
    • 3.1Focus of the study: The source-path-goal image schema (“path schema”)
    • 3.2Sources of the data
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Path schemas in gestures for thinking
    • 4.2Path schemas in gestures for teaching
    • 4.3Incidental vs. essential path structure
    • 4.4Gesture sequences and combinations
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 10 January 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00041.wil
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