Please check, just in case…

APA Tip of the Day: Plurality of ‘data’

“Data” is a plural noun. Therefore:

• The data are…

NOT: The data is…

• The data were collected…

Not: The data was collected…

Announcements1. Your intervention paper isn’t due for

several weeks, but don’t delay on getting started.

2. Your intervention paper is individually written, but the presentation is collaborative.

3. Get with me if you need assistance in finding resources on your assigned intervention.

Quick questions or quandaries?

Today’s Topic:

Gesture as Communication: Deictic and

Representational Gestures

DeixisReference by means of an expression whose interpretation is relative to the context, not necessarily the content of the utterance, such as:o who is speakingo the time or place of speakingo the gestures of the speaker, oro the current location of the discourse.

From: LinguaLinks (www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms)

Examples of deictic expressions

I/you (person deixis) here/there (place deixis) Ud./tú (social deixis) yesterday/today/tomorrow or

now/then (time deixis)

From: LinguaLinks (www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms)

Deictic Gestures:

proto-imperatives

proto-declaratives

Proto-imperatives: (usually emerge around 9 months)

“gestures that function to engage the adults as a tool for obtaining a desired object.”

(Iverson & Thal,1998, p. 60)

Proto-declaratives: (appear after proto-imperatives)

“gestures that function to indicate an object with the goal of gaining the adult’s attention.”

(Iverson & Thal,1998, p. 60)

Representational Gestures:

object related gestures culturally defined

conventional gestures“Representational gestures both establish reference and carry some fixed semantic content”

(Iverson & Thal, 1998, p. 61)

Object related gestures:

•These are gestures that “represent some aspect of a referent” and can “be produced either with or without the referent in hand.”

(Iverson & Thal, 1998, p. 61)

Culturally defined conventional gestures:

social markers conventional (not

idiosyncratic)

Example: waving bye-bye

Small Group Activity #1:

Discuss in small group:o Gesture may be one aspect of

communication in which comprehension does not precede production. What might be some implications of this for students with severe disabilities, particularly in a classroom setting?

Quick Write

What have you learned about the development of gestures that seems important to you as an educator?

Developing Coordinated Attention:

1. Attending to social partners: looking at people who draw their attention.

Developing Coordinated Attention, cont.:

2. Supported joint engagement: looking at an object which caregiver then also attends to.

Developing Coordinated Attention, cont.:

3. Coordinated joint engagement: Switching attention between caregiver and object they are both attending to.

Small Group Activity #2:

Using the Iverson & Thal reading, come up with a timeline for the development of early communication, including gestures and eye gaze.

Important Points about Gestures:

Early gestures are not true symbols -- they are highly context bound (i.e. within a certain routine). However, they may develop into symbols as children learn to use them creatively and within a variety of different situations.

Typically developing children use both gestures and words when they are learning to communicate.

Important Points, cont.: When children are using word-gesture combinations, this may indicate that they are almost ready to start using two-word combinations.

The use of gestures (or alternative and augmentative communication systems) by caretakers does not delay oral language development -- it may help it! This supports the use of total communication with children with language delays.

Looking ahead…

Spring Break!!!!!

Mid-Semester Evaluation:

How’s it going for you so far?