University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, United States.
University of Nevada, Reno, United States.
Infant Behav Dev. 2021 Feb;62:101527. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101527. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between frequency of gesture use and language with a consideration for the effect of age and setting on frequency of gesture use in prelinguistic typically developing children.
Participants included a total of 54 typically developing infants and toddlers between the ages of 9 months and 15 months separated into two age ranges, 9-12 months and 12-15 months. All participants were administered the Mullen's Scale of Early Learning and two gesture samples were obtained: one sample in a structured setting and the other in an unstructured setting. Gesture samples were coded by research assistants blind to the purpose of the research study and total frequency and frequencies for the following gesture types were calculated: behavior regulation, social interaction, and joint attention (Bruner, 1983).
Results indicated that both age and setting have a significant effect on frequency of gesture use and frequency of gesture is correlated to receptive and expressive language abilities; however, these relationships are dependent upon the gesture type examined.
These findings further our understanding of the relationship between gesture use and language and support the concept that frequency of gesture is related to language abilities. This is meaningful because gestures are one of the first forms of intentional communication, allowing for early identification of language abilities at a young age.
本研究旨在探讨手势使用频率与语言之间的关系，并考虑年龄和环境对手语使用频率的影响，以研究语言前正常发育的儿童。
研究对象共包括 54 名 9 至 15 个月大的正常发育婴儿和幼儿，分为 9-12 个月和 12-15 个月两个年龄组。所有参与者都接受了 Mullen 的早期学习量表测试，并进行了两次手势样本采集：一次在结构化环境中，另一次在非结构化环境中。手势样本由对研究目的不知情的研究助理进行编码，并计算了以下手势类型的总频率和频率：行为调节、社会互动和共同注意（Bruner，1983）。
结果表明，年龄和环境对手语使用频率都有显著影响，且手势频率与接受性和表达性语言能力相关；然而，这些关系取决于所检查的手势类型。
这些发现进一步加深了我们对手势使用与语言之间关系的理解，并支持了手势频率与语言能力相关的概念。这是有意义的，因为手势是最早的有意沟通形式之一，能够在幼儿时期早期识别语言能力。
