?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Investigating+the+dual+function+of+gesture+in+blind+and+visually+impaired+children.+(Poster)&rft.creator=Jelec%2C+Anna&rft.creator=Fleischer%2C+Zuzanna+&rft.creator=Jaworska%2C+Dorota&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Psycholinguistics&rft.description=Co-speech+gesture+research+explores+the+role+of+gesture+in+communication%2C+i.e.+whether+gestures+are+intended+for+the+listener%2Faudience+(e.g.+Mol+et+al.+2009%3B+Alibali+et+al.%2C+2001%3B+Holler+%26+Beattie%2C+2003)+or+support+the+process+of+speech+production+(Kita+%26+Davies%2C+2009%3B+Hostetter+et+al.+2007).+To+investigate+the+role+of+gesture+in+communication+we+turn+to+blind+and+visually+impaired+speakers+whose+opportunities+to+learn+gestures+visually+are+limited+(cf.+Iverson+%26+Goldin-Meadow+1998%3B+2001).+The+present+study+aims+at+providing+insight+into+the+nature+and+occurrence+of+co-speech+gestures+in+spontaneous+speech%3A+between+blind%2C+severely+visually+impaired+and+sighted+individuals.+Participants+were+asked+to+read+a+short+story+(either+in+print+or+in+Braille)+and+to+re-tell+it+to+the+interviewer.+Care+was+taken+to+establish+an+environment+in+which+the+participants+would+feel+safe+and+would+not+refrain+from+gesturing+for+fear+of+hurting+themselves+or+others.+We+predicted+that+if+blind+speakers+did+not+gesture+as+much+as+their+visually+impaired+peers+it+would+suggest+that+gesture+is+to+some+extent+acquired+through+visual+instruction.+However%2C+following+Iverson+et+al.+(2000)+and+Iverson+and+Goldin-Meadow+(1998)+we+hypothesized+that+despite+the+absence+of+visual+gestural+stimuli+during+the+language-learning+process+gesture+is+present+in+the+language+of+the+blind+participants+-+but+there+would+be+differences+in+gesture+form%2C+types+and+functions.+The+present+study+aims+at+exploring+and+categorizing+these+differences%2C+with+regard+to+how+sensory+references+are+visible+in+the+gestures+of+participants+with+various+degrees+of+sight+impairment.+Regardless+of+dissimilarities%2C+the+presence+of+gesture+in+both+the+blind+and+impaired+individuals+points+towards+a+dual+function+of+co-speech+gestures%2C+i.e.+a+device+for+both+the+speaker+and+their+interlocutor.&rft.date=2012-07&rft.type=Conference+Poster&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F8979%2F1%2Fjelec_ISGS5poster.pdf&rft.identifier=++Jelec%2C+Anna+and+Fleischer%2C+Zuzanna++and+Jaworska%2C+Dorota++(2012)+Investigating+the+dual+function+of+gesture+in+blind+and+visually+impaired+children.+(Poster).++%5BConference+Poster%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F8979%2F