A number of theories exist to explain why people gesture when speaking, when they produce gesture, and the origin of their gestures. This dissertation focuses on four individual variables that can influence gesture: (i) familiarity, (ii) imageability, (iii) codability, and (iv) motor experience. Four experiments were designed to determine how each…

Atypical social communication is a key indicator of autism spectrum disorder and has long been presumed to interfere with friendship formation and first impressions among typically developing youth. However, emerging literature suggests that such atypicalities may function differently among groups of peers with autism spectrum disorder. The…

This article presents a personal reflection on the potential for the techniques of the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) to help French as a Second Language (FSL) university students develop communicative and intercultural competence in Ontario, Canada. The literature review underlines the benefits of learning through drama and theatre and connects…

Twitter has become a common feature of academic conferences, used by organizers to provide information about the conference and by attendees to engage in discussion about the conference topics, share information, and create social links and networks within the community. This study examines the tweets from two conferences in Applied Linguistics in…

This exploratory study examined the spontaneous use of gestures occurring in general as well as the corrective behaviour of two English for academic purposes (EAP) teachers at a Canadian university. Data were collected by way of an interview, lesson observation, and a stimulated recall session. Prior to the observation, each teacher was…

Based on ethnographic observations in a programme on job search training in Fribourg, Switzerland, I discuss the regimentation that is expected from job seekers on how to 'sell the self' in the labour market, i.e. on how to successfully manage a job interview. I will show how in attempting to narratively package their trajectories, the coaches'…

The acoustic realization of phrasal prominence is proposed to correlate with the order of V(erbs) and O(bjects) in natural languages. The present production study with 15 talkers of Japanese (OV) and English (VO) investigates whether the speech signal contains coverbal visual information that covaries with auditory prosody, in Infant- and…

An important aspect of Applied Improvisation and Applied Drama is using and perceiving the body. What happens when this room is virtual? Can adaptations be made to enable embodied work online without jeopardizing impact? This paper focuses on adaptations and inventions two academics have made to engage participants in online embodiment processes.…

Higher-order thinking is relational reasoning in which multiple representations are linked together, through inferences, comparisons, abstractions, and hierarchies. We examine the development of higher-order thinking in 64 preschool-aged children, observed from 14 to 58 months in naturalistic situations at home. We used children's spontaneous talk…

Reasoning about bedrock abstract concepts such as time, number, and valence relies on spatial metaphor and often on multiple spatial metaphors for a single concept. Previous research has documented, for instance, both future-in-front and future-to-right metaphors for time in English speakers. It is often assumed that these metaphors, which appear…

The roles of visual sonority and handshape markedness in sign language acquisition and production were investigated. In Experiment 1, learners were taught sign-nonobject correspondences that varied in sign movement sonority and handshape markedness. Results from a sign-picture matching task revealed that high sonority signs were more accurately…

When people talk, they gesture, and those gestures often reveal information that cannot be found in speech. Learners are no exception. A learner's gestures can index moments of conceptual instability, and teachers can make use of those gestures to gain access into a student's thinking. Learners can also discover novel ideas from the gestures they…

The purpose of this article is to explore recommended practices in choosing and using key word signs (i.e., simple single-word gestures for communication) to facilitate first spoken words in hearing children with language delays. Developmental, theoretical, and empirical supports for this practice are discussed. Practical recommendations for…

Becoming a professional worker involves a wide range of cognitive, social, and cultural processes that have received extensive attention over the past decades amongst various disciplines. It is also not external to language use and communication. Novices in any occupation have to learn technical terms and are expected to master specific discourse…

Language classroom interactions can be characterized as multimodal, since teachers may resort to a variety of resources provided by their body or by their immediate space in order to convey meaning, manage activities and assess pupils' performances. Furthermore, teachers' multimodal practices constitute an essential component for the…