To what extent do African studies refocus our understanding of gestures (original) (raw)
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Gestures in the Sub-Saharan region
Most of the studies on gesture in sub-Saharan Africa focus on documenting the forms and meanings of conventionalized gestures such as pointing, repertoires of quotable gestures and counting gestures. An important aspect of these studies, particularly work on pointing, has been to highlight how cultural an interactive norms shape gestural behavior. The role of gestures in oral-story telling and other art forms has also been a particular area of interest in the African context. In work on oral narratives, there has also been a focus on the relationship of ideophones and gestures. Studies on gestures in the African diaspora give support to other work showing the persistence of gestures over time. Many of these studies on gesture in sub-Saharan Africa highlight the conscious and often explicit importance attached to gesture and bodily conduct in many African cultures.
Literature Review on Gesture Studies in Language Teaching/Learning
The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies, 2019
Teaching/learning a foreign language is an activity that calls for creativity and innovativeness on the part of the teacher for his/her set objectives to be met. The main goal for such an activity is to enable the learner to communicate in the target language both in writing and speaking. Many are the strategies that have been used the world over by those in this practice of teaching foreign languages. It is in this regard that we examine how gestures have been used as a strategy among others and the extent to which they impacted on learning. Reference is made to the works of researchers in the world as a whole, and in Africa in particular.
The Significance of African Sign Languages for
Sign languages are the natural languages of deaf people and deaf communities. In the past 50 years, an impressive number of sign languages have come to be studied from a modern linguistic perspective, generating ground-breaking insights into the influence of the communicative channel on language structure. However, only a handful of these studies concern sign languages on the African continent. This is striking, particularly in view of the rich diversity of sign languages and signing communities found in Africa. Despite being limited in number, the studies available on African sign languages reveal unique structural features, not attested in non-African sign languages so far. Thus, research on African sign languages is important for the typology of sign languages, as well as for the general typology of African languages. The diversity in signing communities in sociolinguistic terms offer valuable opportunities for studying the impact of social setting on sign language structure; an issue of current debate in the sign language literature. Studies on African sign languages are relevant for a number of domains in general linguistics as well, including language contact, change, shift, acquisition, creation, and emergence. Last but not least, the scientific examination of African sign languages is of major importance for the emancipation and participation of deaf African in society.
Glottodidactica. An International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2018
From all the examples of nonverbal behaviour it has been scientifically proved that gestures reflect human thoughts and mental operations. Gestures project meanings that are stored in image schemas. Those mental representations are shaped by culturally determined experience. The aim of this article was to delve into the issue of the cross-cultural differences in nonverbal behaviour with the par-ticular focus on gestures from the point of view of cognitive linguistics. It was also of my interest to identify and categorise gestures as regards their universal and/or culture specific nature and create a background for possible further research.
Speech and Gesture in Classroom Interaction: A Case Study of Angola and Portugal
One of the principal reasons why human beings use language is to communicate. When they speak, however, they do not do so mechanically or robotically. There is usually a synergy between the speech act and certain parts of the body. As spoken utterances are produced, these body parts move, producing body actions that are visible, known as ‘visible bodily actions’. These visible bodily actions are done, using different body parts. The movement of the upper limbs are known as ‘gestures’. These gestures are more directly linked to speech. Regardless of their age, nationality, culture, background, or ethnicity, human beings gesture naturally and pervasively when they speak. These movements reveal quite a lot about their thoughts, objectives, beliefs, and interests, among others. In light of the afore-mentioned, this research seeks to compare descriptively speech and gesture in two different contexts with two different didactic methods (Angola and Portugal). Video footages of the interactional contexts - with teenage children and teachers - are reviewed and a general comparative descriptive analysis is realised. Using the ELAN Software, a 30 second microanalysis is done for each of the interactional contexts. Concluding remarks are presented, based on the study conducted. Keywords: speech, gesture, utterance, body movement, visible bodily action.
Studies in African Languages and Cultures, 2018
The paper shows a close relationship between speech and gestures by arguing that in oral utterances the verbal part is one of the components of the message, while the other is embedded in gesture. The analysis is based on a few hours of recordings containing natural discourse, mainly sermons preached by Hausa sheiks and religious leaders from Northern Nigeria. The focus is put on the use of a recurrent gesture referred to as the "dusting off palms" gesture. The semantic core of the gesture based on the contextual analysis shows that it refers to cleaning , mental dirt, rejection, termination and totality. The link between all of these notions is to be found in the action which gave rise to the gesture: dusting off palms after a manual job.
The Significance of African Sign Languages for African Linguistics and Sign Language Studies
2015
Sign languages are the natural languages of deaf people and deaf communities. In the past 50 years, an impressive number of sign languages have come to be studied from a modern linguistic perspective, generating ground-breaking insights into the influence of the communicative channel on language structure. However, only a handful of these studies concern sign languages on the African
Sign language research in Ghana: An overview of indigenous and foreign-based sign languages
Journal of African Languages and Literatures, 2021
The recognition of sign language as a full-fledged human language with linguistics description has led to several research works in both theoretical and applied linguistics considering different aspects. The present study extends this research to the Ghanaian context, with the aim of providing an overview of past and current research on indigenous and foreign-based sign languages in Ghana. We considered published and unpublished works from Ghanaian and foreign researchers and synthesized these to know the areas that have been covered. We specifically explored research on indigenous sign languages in Ghana; the contributions of Dr Andrew Foster in sign language literacy; research on foreign-based sign languages in Ghana; language contact, language vitality, language documentation and other sociological issues. We discussed our findings with respect to the descriptive analysis of sign languages in Ghana: vitality and vulnerability of different sign languages in Ghana. Relevant to our paper is the vulnerability and the possible endangerment of indigenous sign languages in Ghana. We argue that indigenous sign languages in Ghana risk endangerment, whereas foreignbased sign languages have potential for development. We suggest the involvement of local linguists in documentation, research, and the analysis of SLs in Ghana to ensure the survival of indigenous SLs and increased research on SLs in Ghana.
Cross-linguistic Views of Gesture Usage
Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics
People have stereotypes about gesture usage. For instance, speakers in East Asia are not supposed to gesticulate, and it is believed that Italians gesticulate more than the British. Despite the prevalence of such views, studies that investigate these stereotypes are scarce. The present study examined people's views on spontaneous gestures by collecting data from five different countries. A total of 363 undergraduate students from five countries (France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and USA) participated in this study. Data were collected through a two-part questionnaire. Part 1 asked participants to rate two characteristics of gesture: frequency and size of gesture for 13 different languages. Part 2 asked them about their views on factors that might affect the production of gestures. The results showed that most participants in this study believe that Italian, Spanish, and American English speakers produce larger gestures more frequently than other language speakers. They also ...