Weak Vocabulary = Lots of Gestures? Evidence from Bilingual Children
When and Where
Speakers
Description
The Department of Spanish & Portuguese is glad to invite you to a Lecture Series event, titled "Weak Vocabulary = Lots of Gestures? Evidence from Bilingual Children" by Elena Nicoladis.
About the Presentation
Bilingual children often have lower scores on vocabulary tests within one language than monolingual children. Their cognitive development is, however, age-appropriate. Given that they have more complex thoughts than their language skills might allow them to convey, might they use gestures to help convey their message? Among monolinguals, gestures can be used to help construct the message a speaker wishes to communicate and access words to go along with that message. In this talk, I review evidence from some of my studies with bilingual children that address that question.
About the Presenter
Elena Nicoladis is Professor of Psychology Science at the University of Alberta. She is interested in how bilingual/bicultural children learn the appropriate norms for their community as seen through their language use, particularly in the context of their family. She is also interested in what bilingual children can tell us about language acquisition in terms of early words, morphology, and gesture.