Abstract
This study investigated how adults and children use speech
and gesture to clarify whether a referent is active at a given
moment in discourse. As Chafe (1987) argued, a referent that
is newly introduced in a story becomes an active referent.
Although the referent becomes a semi-active referent as the
story moves on to other topics, if the referent is mentioned
again, it is reactivated. However, it is difficult to obtain direct
evidence that a certain referent is semi-active when analyzing
only spoken expression. It is also not clear when the abil-
ity to manage a semi-active referent develops. We propose
that a semi-active referent is visible in two-handed gestures in
which one hand depicts/indicates an active referent, referred
to in the concurrent speech, and the other hand that is held in
the air indicates a semi-active referent.
The participants were twenty native speakers of English
consisting of four different age groups. Each group had five
participants, 3-year-olds (M = 3:8), 5-year-olds (M = 5:7),
9-year-olds (M = 9:4) and adults (M = 27.6) (This is a re-
analysis of existing data, reported in
̈
Ozy
̈
urek, et al., 2008).
A set of 10 video clips depicting motion events was used
to elicit speech and gesture. Gestures were coded one of
the three following categories; both handed gesture, single
handed gesture, or single handed gesture with a semi-active-
referent hold (one hand is depicting or indicating the active
referent while the other hand is held in the air to indicate a
semi-active referent). An ANOVA was conducted on the pro-
portion of the gestures in each category with age group as
the between-subject factor. The main effect of the age group
was found in the proportion of the single handed gesture with
a semi-active-referent hold, F(3, 19) = 4.11, p = .001, 2 =
.50. Post-hoc tests (Tukey, p
<
.05) revealed that the propor-
tion was significantly higher in adults (20%) than in 3-year-
olds (3%) and 5-year-olds (0%), but not in 9-year-olds (5%).
However, no main effect of the age group was found in the
proportions of the both handed gesture (A=23%, 3yo=33%,
5yo=13%, 9yo=14%) and the single handed gesture (A=57%,
3yo= 65%, 5yo=87%, 9yo=81%).
An ANOVA was conducted on the proportion of the ges-
tures in each category with age group as the between-subject
factor. The main effect of the age group was found in the
proportion of the single handed gesture with a semi-active-
referent hold, F(3, 19) = 4.11, p = .001, 2 = .50. Post-hoc tests
(Tukey, p
<
.05) revealed that the proportion was significantly
higher in adults (20%) than in 3-year-olds (3%) and 5-year-
olds (0%), but not in 9-year-olds (5%). However, no main ef-
fect of the age group was found in the proportions of the both
handed gesture (A=23%, 3yo=33%, 5yo=13%, 9yo=14%)
and the single handed gesture (A=57%, 3yo= 65%, 5yo=87%,
9yo=81%).
