1996/10/01 by Olga Capirci, Jana M. Iverson, Elena Pizzuto +2 · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Hearing Impairment and Communication #Language Development and Disorders #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
paper · doi:10.1017/s0305000900008989
openalex publication_date 1996/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
ABSTRACT This study explores the communicative use of the gestural and vocal modalities by normally developing Italian children during the transition from one- to two-word speech. We analysed the spontaneous production of 12 children at 1;4 and at 1;8, focusing on the use of two-element combinations of words and/or gestures. Results indicated that use of gesture and gesture-word combinations during the transition to two-word speech is a robust feature of communicative development across a relatively large number of children in a rich gestural culture, and that the number of gesture-word and two-word combinations increased significantly from 1;4 to 1;8. Number of gestures and gesture-word combinations produced at 1;4 was also predictive of total vocal production at 1;8. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of gesture as a transitional device en route to two-word speech.