ERIC Number: EJ745675
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jun
Pages: 27
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0019-042X
Thinking for Speaking about Motion: L1 and L2 Speech and Gesture
Stam, Gale
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (IRAL), v44 n2 p145-171 Jun 2006
It has been claimed that speakers of Spanish and English have different patterns of thinking for speaking about motion both linguistically and gesturally (Stam 1998; McNeill and Duncan 2000; McNeill 2000; Kellerman and van Hoof 2003; Neguerela et al. 2004). For example, Spanish speakers' path gestures tend to occur with path verbs, while English speakers tend to occur with satellites (adverbs or prepositions) and verbs + satellites. What happens when Spanish speakers learn English, where do their gestures occur? Also, what do their gestures tell us that their speech alone does not? To investigate these questions, this study examines the use of "path" gestures in motion event narrations of a group of native Spanish speakers, a group of native English speakers, and two groups of Spanish learners of English (intermediate and advanced). L2 learners' gestures revealed L1 thinking for speaking patterns with grammatically correct and fluent L2 speech.
Descriptors: Spanish Speaking, Nonverbal Communication, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Verbs, Motion, Narration, Language Processing, Spanish
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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