Jean-Marc Colletta|Catherine Pellenq|Michèle Guidetti
Age-related changes in co-speech gesture and narrative: Evidence from French children and adults
Laboratoire de Linguistique et Didactique des Langues Etrangères et Maternelles|Unité de Recherche Interdisplinaire Octogone
childrens language abilities develop may use cospeech gesture tested hypothesis studying oral narratives produced french children adults one hundred twentytwo participants divided three age groups 6 years old 10 years old adults asked watch tom jerry cartoon tell story experimenter narratives videotaped subsequently transcribed annotated language gesture using elan software results showed strong effect age language complexity discourse construction gesture age effect partly related length narratives adults produced shorter narratives 10yearolds study thus confirms cospeech gestures develop age context narrative activity plays crucial role discourse cohesion framing verbal utterances developmental shift towards complex narratives words gestures discussed terms theoretical implications study gesture discourse development