Gestures of Simultaneous Bilingual Children in Natural Interaction: a Conversation Analytic Perspective
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Gestures of Simultaneous Bilingual Children in Natural Interaction: A Conversation Analytic Perspective إشارات اﻷطفال ذوي التزامن اللّغوي الثّنائً خﻻل التّفاعل ال ّطبٌعً من منظور تحلٌل المحادثة by Jalila Abdurrahman Sfaxi Student ID number 2014201074 Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of MEd in TESOL Faculty of Education Dissertation Supervisor Dr. Phalangchok Wanphet September 2016 DISSERTATION RELEASE FORM Student Name Student ID Programme Date Jalila Abdurrahman Sfaxi 2014201074 MEd- TESOL 1st September, 2016 Title Gestures of Simultaneous Bilingual Children in Natural Interaction: A Conversation Analysis Perspective I warrant that the content of this dissertation is the direct result of my own work and that any use made in it of published or unpublished copyright material falls within the limits permitted by international copyright conventions. I understand that one copy of my dissertation will be deposited in the University Library for permanent retention. I hereby agree that the material mentioned above for which I am author and copyright holder may be copied and distributed by the British University in Dubai for the purposes of research, private study or education and that the British University in Dubai may recover from purchasers the costs incurred in such copying and distribution, where appropriate. Public access to my dissertation in the Repository shall become effective 24 months after my submission. I grant the British University in Dubai the non-exclusive right to reproduce and/or distribute my dissertation to students, faculty, staff and walk-in users of BUiD Library, in any format or medium, for non-commercial, research, educational and related academic purposes only. Signature Jalila Abdurrahman Sfaxi Abstract Despite the general consensus that speech and gestures are connected, there is much debate on the nature of this relationship. Part of the debate concerns the communicative power of gestures. There are two basic opposing views in this regard: the first position contends that gestures play a vital role in communication. The second opinion assumes that gestures have no communicative value pertaining that they are simple accompaniment of speech. The purpose of the present naturalistic study is then to explore the functions of simultaneous bilingual children‟s gestures in natural interactions. A qualitative naturalistic method was adopted to gather the necessary data. Six bilingual girls of 6 to 12 years of age were videotaped conversing in English while playing in the house of one of the participants. Nine out of 18 videotaped conversations were transcribed and analysed using the Conversation Analytic method. The participants‟ gestures were classified in terms of their functions; and the speech exchange in which these gestures occurred was examined. The findings revealed that gestures of simultaneous bilingual children have communicative and interactional functions. They help solve speech problems such as disambiguating speech, adding information, compensating for speech and helping with word search. They also help allocate turns at talk, draw addressees‟ attention and maintain social relations. The findings also showed that bilingual children‟s gestures are sequentially aligned with the interactants‟ responses located in the prior turns; and that these gestures not only help speakers produce comprehensible messages but also help listeners interpret the speakers‟ speech and react to it gesturally, verbally or bi-modally. Drawing attention to caution regarding generalization of its findings, this study recommends that teachers and learners consider gestures in teaching and learning. Further research opportunities based on these findings are also highlighted. Keywords: gesture, bilingual interaction, bilingual first (or second) language acquisition, speech- gesture connections. مل ّخص البحث رغم التوافق العام فً اﻵرا حول العﻻةة بٌن اشإشارات واللﻻم ننا اللثٌر من الددل بشنن طبٌعة نات العﻻةة دز من نذا الددل ٌتمحور حول الق ّوة اﻻتّصالٌّة لﻹشارات وفً نذا ال ّصدد ننا رأٌان متباٌنان: اﻷ ّول ٌق ّر أ ّن لﻹشارات دور مه ّم فً اﻻتّصال وال ّرأي الثّانً ٌنفً نات القٌمة التّصالٌّة مق ّرا أ ّن اشإشارات نً مد ّرد مرافق لللﻻم ٌهدف نذا البحث ال ّنوعً ال ّطبٌعً إلى التشاف وظائفإشارات اﻷطفال ذوي التزامن ال ّلغوي الثّنائً خﻻل التّفاعل ال ّطبٌعً مستخدما المنهج ال ّنوعً ال ّطبٌعً لدمع المعلومات الﻻّزمة وةد ت ّم استخدام الفٌدٌو لتصوٌر ستّة أطفال إناث تتراوح أعمارنم بٌن 6 و21 سنة ون ّن ٌتحدّثن بال ّلغة اﻻندلٌزٌّة خﻻل ال ّلعب فً منزل إحدى المشارلات من ضمن21 محادثة مص ّورة ت ّم نسخ وتحلٌل 9 محادثات باستخدام منهج تحلٌل المحادثة ث ّم ص ّنفت إٌما ات المشارلٌن من حٌث وظائفها لما ت ّم تحلٌل تبادل الخطاب ا ّلذي وةعت فٌ تل اشإٌما ات تظهر نتائج البحث أ ّن شإشارات اﻷطفال ذوي التزامن ال ّلغوي الثّنائً وظائف اتّصالٌّة وتفاعلٌّة فهً تساعد على ح ّل المشلﻻت اللﻻمٌّة مثل توضٌح اللﻻم، وإضافة المعلومات، وتعوٌض اللﻻم والبحث عن المفردات لما أ ّنها تساعد على تخصٌص اﻷدوار خﻻل المحادثات ودلب انتباه المتل ّقً والحفاظ على العﻻةات اﻻدتماعٌة وتبٌّن ال ّنتائج أٌظا أ ّن إشارات اﻷطفال ثنائًٌّ ال ّلغة تتّفق تباعا مع ردود المتفاعلٌن اللامنة فً اﻷدوار ال ّسابقة، وأ ّن نات اشإشارات ﻻ تساعد فقط المتل ّلمٌن على انتاج رسائل مفهومة بل تساعد أٌظا المستمعٌن على تفسٌر لﻻم المتحدّثٌن وال ّرد علٌ باستخدام اشإٌما ات أو اللﻻم أو اﻻتنٌن معا مع تو ّخً الحذر بشنن تعمٌم نتائدها، توصً نات الدّراسة مع ّلمً ومتع ّلمً ال ّلغة الثّانٌة بنخذ اشإشارات بعٌن اﻻعتبار خﻻل .التّعلٌم والتّع ّلم، لما تس ّلط ال ّضو على فرص البحث المل ّملة المبن ٌّة على نتائج نذه الدّراسة Dedication For the soul of Dr. Clifton Chadwick who will remain forever alive in the hearts and minds of his students. For my mother, my husband and my daughter. Acknowledgments I consider myself lucky to have been supervised by Dr. Phalangchok Wanphet to whom I am cordially grateful. But for his unimaginable patience, meticulous guidance, deep knowledge, continuous encouragement and on-going assistance I could not have accomplished this research as confidently as I did. His feedback helped me obtain new ideas that I could not have thought of on my own. I am also indebted to Dr. John McKenny whose insightful comments, creative ideas and intellectual breadth helped enlarge my understanding. Special thanks also go to Dr.Sufian Forawi whose office has always been open in times of trouble spots. His encouragement, help and scrupulousness helped me move towards the right directions. I am also grateful to Sarah Smith, member of SfEP (Society for Editors & Proofreaders) for proofreading this paper making it more accurate. I gratefully single out the participants and their parents without whom this study would have never seen light. Finally, I am most grateful to my husband and my daughter for their patience and on-going help. Table of Contents Symbols Used in Transcriptions --------------------------------------------0 Chapter One - Introduction-------------------------------------------------01 1.1: Background of the study ----------------------------------------------01 1.2: Purpose of the study and research questions------------------------04 1.3: Significance of the study-----------------------------------------------04 1.4: Scope of the study ------------------------------------------------------06 Chapter Two - Literature review theoretical framework 2.1: Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------07 2.2: Historical background --------------------------------------------------07 2.3. Theoretical frameworks ------------------------------------------------08 2.3.1. The cognitive theory --------------------------------------------------09 2.3.2. The communicative approach ---------------------------------------11 2.4. Issues in gesture ---------------------------------------------------------12 2.4.1. Speech-gesture relationship -----------------------------------------12 2.4.2. Features and meanings of gestures ---------------------------------16 2.4.2.1. Features of gestures-------------------------------------------------16 2.4.2.2. Meaning of gestures ------------------------------------------------17 2.5. Gestures and second language research ------------------------------18 2.5.1. Functions of bilinguals‟ gestures ------------------------------------18 2.5.2. Gestures and second language acquisition -------------------------19 Chapter Three - Methodology 3.1: Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------21 3.2. Research paradigm, design and analysis frameworks --------------21 3.2.1. The qualitative research paradigm ----------------------------------21 3.2.2. Research design -------------------------------------------------------21 3.2.3. Conversation analysis framework ---------------------------------22 3.3. Data-----------------------------------------------------------------------23 3.3.1. What is data? ---------------------------------------------------------23 3.3.2. Setting and event -----------------------------------------------------24 3.3.3. Apparatus and data collection --------------------------------------24 3.4. Participants --------------------------------------------------------------26 3.5. Researcher‟s role -------------------------------------------------------27 3.6. Data analysis and procedures ----------------------------------------28 3.7. Reliability and validity ------------------------------------------------29 3.7.1. Reliability --------------------------------------------------------------29 3.7.2. Validity -----------------------------------------------------------------29 Chapter Four - Research findings 4.1. Gestures