The emergence of pragmatics: forms and functions of conventional gestures in young French children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the forms of conventional gestures used by young French children aged 16 to 36 months when interacting with their mothers in everyday situations, and to look at the functions of those gestures based on an adapted version of the classification system proposed in speech act theory. The results showed that the most frequent types of gestures were pointing, and gestures of agreement or refusal. Pointing increased with age, particularly between 16 and 24 months. Most of the pointing gestures were assertives, produced in combination with words or vocalizations. The mean number of assertive agreements rose with age, especially purely gestural ones.