The Role of Gestures as Co- Speech in Communication and Cognitive Processes

 Gestures are known to be “spontaneous hand movements” that are applied when speaking and communicating with others. Gestures are meant to represent information and emotions through the actions of the hands. Many claim that gestures showcase one’s competency in understanding language and perceiving expressions. Gesturing has become so common among humankind that many people don’t even realize when they gesture towards other people as a form of communication. Seemingly, it can be said that wherever there’s talking, there is gesturing.  

In the article “Language Proficiency Impacts the Benefits of Co-Speech Gesture for Narrative Understanding Through a Visual Attention Mechanism” by Natalia Zielinski and Elizabeth M. Wakefield, gestures aid in visual comprehension and help in visual attention as well. Using verbal language and gestures together is known as co- speech, which enhances language proficiency. By conducting a study between native English speakers and non native English speakers, participants were shown two different videos with the same information and words. One video had speech only and the other video had speech and gestures. Non native English speakers were able to comprehend what the video meant to say when it was accompanied with speech and gestures rather than just speech. The results concluded that non native speakers tend to gain advantage from speech and gestures compared to native speakers, showing us that gestures seem to provide an external aid in communication and understanding language. Non native speakers rely more on gestures as it helps them gain more insight on a new language, proving that combining speech with gestures helps new language learners gain comprehension through applying visual attention. 

In the article “The Role of Gesture in Communication and Cognition: Implications for Understanding and Treating Neurogenic Communication Disorders” by Sharice Clough and Melissa C. Duff discusses that gestures aren’t just related to the spoken language but they also play a crucial role in not just communication but also cognition. This seems to be especially true when talking about those with neurogenic communication disorders such as brain injuries. Gestures seem to structure thoughts and organize speech, and those with impaired communication gain the ability to use gestures as a compensation for verbal cues.  It was concluded that there seems to be a strong connection between cognitive function and the production of gestures as the understanding of gestures can provide perception into one’s cognitive processes.

Upon the relationship between both articles, it’s concluded that not only do both articles discuss the use of gestures in communication but also how critical gestures are and the positive aspects of speech combined with gestures. Both articles review how gestures actively guide towards attention as they help organize thoughts and help focus visual attention. The articles showcase how gestures aren’t just “add ons” to verbal communication but underlying tools in communication and comprehension that connect to cognitive function. 

References 

(1)     Clough, S.; Duff, M. C. The Role of Gesture in Communication and Cognition: Implications for Understanding and Treating Neurogenic Communication Disorders. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2020, 14 (323). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00323.

(2)     Zielinski, N.; Wakefield, E. M. Language Proficiency Impacts the Benefits of Co-Speech Gesture for Narrative Understanding through a Visual Attention Mechanism. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 2021, 43 (43).