Effects of Learning American Sign Language on Co-speech Gesture

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1 Effects of Learning American Sign Language on Co-speech Gesture Shannon Casey Karen Emmorey Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience San Diego State University

2 Anecdotally, people report gesturing more after learning ASL If true, this would indicate an unusual effect of the non-dominant L2 language (ASL) on the dominant L1 language (English) Gesture creation interacts on-line with speech production processes (e.g., McNeill, 2005) For spoken languages, cross-language interference rarely occurs from the L2 to the L1

(English) Gesture creation interacts on-line with speech production processes (e.g.,

3 Overview Study 1: Survey of signed vs. spoken language learners after one year of instruction Study 2: Longitudinal study of signed vs. spoken language learners before and after one year of instruction

4 Study 1: Survey Students surveyed after two semesters of a foreign language at San Diego State University: ASL, N = 102 French, N = 72 Italian, N = 47 Spanish, N = 119 (total spoken learners = 238)

5 Survey Questions 1. After learning French/Italian/Spanish/ASL, do you think you gesture while talking (in English): less more the same 2. Do you feel that gestures you make while talking have changed since learning French/Italian/ Spanish/ASL? yes no 3. If yes, please explain how you think your gestures have changed.

6 Most ASL learners felt their gesture frequency increased after 1 year Perceived Gesture Frequency Percent of Respondents Increase Decrease Same 10 0 ASL (N = 101) French (N = 71) Italian (N = 47) Spanish (N = 119)

Respondents 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 Increase Decrease Same 10 0

7 ASL learners, unlike spoken language learners, felt their gestures changed Perceived Change in Gestures Percent of respondents Yes No 10 0 ASL (N = 102) French (N = 72) Italian (N = 47) Spanish (N = 119)

Percent of respondents 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 Yes No 10 0

8 Survey Results: How have your gestures changed? Changes in use of gestures: (signed and spoken learners) more exaggerated/enthusiastic/intense/animated/larger more expressive/descriptive/meaningful to express emotion Changes in form of gestures: (signed and spoken learners) different hand motions more defined/precise Change in gesture content: insert ASL signs/more ASL-like (57% of ASL learners)

exaggerated/enthusiastic/intense/animated/larger more expressive/descriptive/meaningful to express

9 Survey Results Summary After one year: ASL learners perceived an increase and a change in their co-speech gesture Spoken language learners felt their gestures remained the same When changes in gestures were perceived: Spoken and sign language learners reported some changes in use and form of gestures ASL learners overwhelmingly felt a direct influence from ASL

When changes in gestures were perceived: Spoken and sign language learners reported some

10 Questions Does learning a manual language (ASL) actually increase gesture rate or change gesture form when speaking English? Or are ASL learners just perceiving a difference (that is not there) because they are paying more attention to their hands?

11 Study 2: Longitudinal Study 21 hearing native English speakers learning ASL 20 hearing native English speakers learning a Romance language (control group) (Italian = 9, French = 4, Spanish = 7) data collected before and after 1 academic year of exposure to the language watched Canary Row in 8 segments retold cartoon in English to a non-signer analyzed bowling ball scene and Tarzan scene

7) data collected before and after 1 academic year of exposure to the language watched Canary Row

12 Predictions for gesture production in ASL learners Rate may increase due to learning to use the hands for communicative purposes Content influenced by ASL use of ASL signs

13 Production of ASL signs when speaking to non-signers In the survey, ASL learners reported using ASL signs while speaking English Native ASL-English bilinguals produce code-blends when speaking with nonsigners (Casey & Emmorey, 2009)

speaking English Native ASL-English bilinguals produce

14 Predictions for Gesture Production in ASL Learners Rate may increase due to learning to use the hands for communicative purposes Content influenced by ASL use of ASL signs increase in iconic and deictic gestures increase in gestures from the character s point of view, mirroring role shift in ASL Form influenced by ASL phonetic inventory: increase in handshape variety due to marked handshapes in ASL (e.g. E, K, Y)

gestures increase in gestures from the character s point of view, mirroring role shift in ASL Form

15 Results: Increase in gesture rate for ASL learners only Gesture Rate 0.6 * p = Rate (gestures/sec) Pre Post ASL Learners Spoken Learners

16 Results: Co-speech signs Five (out of 21) learners produced ASL signs when speaking English, but signs were relatively rare (mean = 2.6 signs; range = 1-5 signs) No spoken language learners produced non- English words

17 Results: Increase in iconics for ASL learners only Gesture Type Rates 0.35 * p = Rate (gestures/sec) Pre Post Iconic Deictic Beat Iconic Deictic Beat ASL Learners Spoken Learners

3 Rate (gestures/sec) 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 Pre Post 0.

18 Results: Increase in character viewpoint for ASL learners only Character Viewpoint 0.18 * p = Rate (gestures/sec) Pre Post ASL Learners Spoken Learners

04 0.16 Rate (gestures/sec) 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.

19 Results: Increase in handshape types for ASL learners only Handshape Types 6 * p =.02 5 Number of Types Pre Post 1 0 ASL Learners Spoken Learners

20 Results: Increase in marked handshape types for ASL learners Marked Handshape Types 3.5 * p = Number of Types Pre Post ASL Learners Spoken Learners

Types 3.5 * p =.002 3 Number of Types 2.

21 Results: Language exposure difference after 1 year Marked Handshape Types 3.5 * p =.01 3 Number of Types Pre Post ASL Learners Spoken Learners

22 Summary: Study 2 Minimal exposure to ASL in adulthood appears to change co-speech gesture when speaking English: increase in gesture rate insertion of ASL signs increase in iconics increase in character viewpoint increase in variety of handshape types

23 Why? Sign language and co-speech gesture share a modality Gesture creation can draw on knowledge of ASL Dual language activation -- even with minimal L2 knowledge L2 (ASL) does not compete with L1 (English) for articulation, unlike a spoken L2 Failure to suppress ASL signs does not disrupt the spoken message, unlike a code-switch to another spoken language

24 Further Questions Do ASL effects on co-speech gesture in L1 increase with increased bilingualism? New ASL learners did not differ significantly from nonsigners on most measures Proficient late English-ASL bilinguals produced more iconic and deictic gestures with more varied handshapes than non-signers (preliminary data) Do early and late English-ASL bilinguals differ in the effects of ASL on co-speech gesture? Proficient late bilinguals produced more ASL signs in co-speech gesture than native bilinguals (preliminary)

25 Thank You! All of the participants Helsa Borinstein Rachael Colvin Heather Larrabee Brenda Nicodemus Jennie Pyers Robin Thompson This research is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Karen Emmorey and San Diego State University Research Foundation (HD047736) Contact: scasey@projects.sdsu.edu

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