LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:11 November 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Development of Vocal and Motor Behaviours in an Infant:
Preliminary Findings

Mili Mathew
Dr. R. Manjula

Abstract

Previous work has suggested that oral and manual systems co-emerge in a developing child which leads to the emergence of a more adult-like, precisely-timed coupling of gesture and speech (Iverson & Thelen, 1999). This study aimed to document the frequency of occurrence of vocalic and body movement gestures namely, hand, facial expression, facial movements and eye gaze in infants (using ELAN software) and to understand the emergence of vocal-motor link in a single typically developing child. The child was from a Kannada speaking family and the mother-infant dyad interactions were audio-video recorded once a month, from the 3rd to the 5th month. Results indicated that a typically developing infant is endowed with a repertoire of vocal, facial, and bodily signals and as young as 5 months there is a clear indication of strong vocal-motor linkage in expression.

Keywords: Non-verbal behaviours, vocal behaviour, motor behaviour, speech development, Case study

Introduction

Gestures constitute the nonverbal aspect of communication. Gesture is used by all when they speak, irrespective of the age, culture and social background. Gesture is not only performed with hands, but by other parts of body, such as head, face or arms. Thus, gestures are defined as manual [e.g., waving to say goodbye], facial [e.g., pouting to show displeasure], or other body movements [e.g., miming an object or person], (Capone, 2010).

McNeill (1992) documented four major characteristics of the gestures used by adults along with speech. First, although gesture and speech often convey complementary aspects of an underlying message, they do so simultaneously, temporally linked within the bounds of a single utterance. Second, when adults gesture while speaking, gestures consist primarily of hand, arm, and finger movements (manual). It is relatively uncommon for mature speakers to produce gestures that involve legs, feet or whole body (non-manual). Third, among right-handed speakers (majority of all speakers), coexpressive gestures tend to be unimanual and are produced primarily with the right hand (Kimura, 1973). Fourth, gestures and speech have a constant relationship in time, with the manual movements of gesture either slightly anticipated or occurring in synchrony with co expressive speech.

Connections between the vocal and gestural system has been suggested to be in place early in development in children. Iverson and Thelen (1999) suggested a model of vocal-motor development as an evidence for an integrated view of the origins of gesture-speech timing in infancy. This model suggests that although gesture and speech are produced in order to convey meaning, their co-production requires the ability to produce controlled, voluntary movements in the two effector systems, namely, the vocal tract and the manual system, and to coordinate these movements in time and space.

Iverson and Thelen (1999) suggested a possible developmental progression characterized by four phases based on the model proposed. The first phase is called initial linkages, where hand and mouth activity are loosely coupled from birth. The second phase is emerging control, where there is an increase in the adaptive use of hands and mouth marked by rhythmical and sometimes coordinated activities in both manual and vocal modalities. This phase is seen from 6 to 8 months of age. The third phase is flexible couplings, which is characterized by the emergence of coupled but not synchronous gesture and speech from 9 to 14 months of age. The last phase called synchronous coupling, has adult-like precisely-timed coupling of gesture and speech and is seen from 16 to 18 months of age.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mili Mary Mathew, Ph.D. Research Scholar
All India Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore 570006
Karnataka
India
milimarym@gmail.com

Dr. R. Manjula
Professor and HOD
Speech Language Pathology
All India Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore 570006
Karnataka
India
rmanjula@aiishmysore.in

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