deictic gestures and language
how do children and adults use pointing gestures and language in interaction?
Use of gestural communication, deictic gestures in particular, is one of the true universals of human language.
We know that there are cultural differences in how pointing is used. But what about development? Deictic gestures often precede linguistic production and both this fact as well as the age of emergence seem to be valid cross-culturally. what is the relation between infants’ poiting and culturally specific ways of using pointing gestures? Does the development follow similar trajectories? Do infants point for different reasons in each culture?