Young children use their hands to tell their mothers what to say.

Children produce their first gestures before their first words, and their first gesture+word sentences before their first word+word sentences. These gestural accomplishments have been found not only to predate linguistic milestones, but also to predict them. Findings of this sort suggest that gesture itself might be playing a role in the language-learning process. But what role does it play? Children's gestures could elicit from their mothers the kinds of words and sentences that the children need to hear in order to take their next linguistic step. We examined maternal responses to the gestures and speech that 10 children produced during the one-word period. We found that all 10 mothers 'translated' their children's gestures into words, providing timely models for how one- and two-word ideas can be expressed in English. Gesture thus offers a mechanism by which children can point out their thoughts to mothers, who then calibrate their speech to those thoughts, and potentially facilitate language-learning.

[1]  Bambi B. Schieffelin,et al.  Language acquisition and socialization: Three developmental stories and their implications , 1984 .

[2]  K. Nelson.  Strategies for first language teaching. , 1989 .

[3]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Making children gesture brings out implicit knowledge and leads to learning. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[4]  Courtney B. Cazden,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL ASSISTANCE TO THE CHILD'S ACQUISITION OF GRAMMAR. , 1965 .

[5]  Richard A. Shweder,et al.  Culture theory : essays on mind, self, and emotion , 1986 .

[6]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  What the teacher's hands tell the student's mind about math. , 1999 .

[7]  Susan Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Transitional knowledge in the acquisition of concepts , 1988 .

[8]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Gesturing makes learning last , 2008, Cognition.

[9]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Gesture is at the cutting edge of early language development , 2005, Cognition.

[10]  Susan M. Wagner,et al.  How our hands help us learn , 2005, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[11]  K. Nelson,et al.  Syntax Acquisition: Impact of Experimental Variation in Adult Verbal Interaction with the Child. , 1973 .

[12]  Heather Shovelton,et al.  Mapping the Range of Information Contained in the Iconic Hand Gestures that Accompany Spontaneous Speech , 1999 .

[13]  Susan Goldin-Meadow,et al.  From children's hands to adults' ears: gesture's role in the learning process. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[14]  M. Tomasello,et al.  Joint attention and early language. , 1986, Child development.

[15]  R. Brown,et al.  A First Language , 1973 .

[16]  E. Markman,et al.  Young children's appreciation of the mental impact of their communicative signals. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[17]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  The Role of Gesture in Learning: Do Children Use Their Hands to Change Their Minds? , 2006 .

[18]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Pointing Toward Two-Word Speech in Young Children , 2003 .

[19]  Justine Cassell,et al.  Communicative Effects of Speech-Mismatched Gestures , 1994 .

[20]  Eros Corazza.  Language and Context , 2004 .

[21]  Patricia M. Greenfield,et al.  The structure of communication in early language development , 1979 .

[22]  R. Golinkoff,et al.  ‘I beg your pardon?’: the preverbal negotiation of failed messages , 1984, Journal of Child Language.

[23]  Susan Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Children Learn When Their Teacher's Gestures and Speech Differ , 2005, Psychological science.

[24]  James E. Driskell,et al.  The Effect of Gesture on Speech Production and Comprehension , 2003, Hum. Factors.

[25]  S. Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Hearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think , 2003 .

[26]  Keith E. Nelson,et al.  Facilitating children's syntax acquisition. , 1977 .

[27]  Susan Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development , 2005, Psychological science.

[28]  S. Engel.  Thought and Language , 1964 .

[29]  E. F. Masur,et al.  Mothers' responses to infants' object-related gestures: influences on lexical development , 1982, Journal of Child Language.

[30]  Susan Goldin-Meadow,et al.  Gestures convey substantive information about a child’s thoughts to ordinary listeners , 1999 .

[31]  S. Kita.  Pointing: Where language, culture, and cognition meet , 2003 .

[32]  L A Thompson,et al.  Evaluation and integration of speech and pointing gestures during referential understanding. , 1986, Journal of experimental child psychology.