Project Details
Description
Sign languages (SLs) and spoken languages (SpLs) share some common
ground regarding the presence of gestures and the use of space in the two
modalities but they also differ. This project investigates the interactive
nature of gesture, sign, and space among older signers and speakers in
French Belgian Sign Language (LSFB) and Belgian French, and how aging
affects those means. Interactive gestures and signs function to regulate the
flow of social interaction. The signing and gesture spaces correspond to the
three-dimensional space in front of the speaker/signer’s body. The data will
be compared to conduct the first cross-linguistic study between LSFB and
Belgian French on these issues.
The main hypothesis is that aging affects gesture, sign, and space, given
the different changes occurring in the normal aging process. The second
hypothesis is that there will be quantitative and qualitative differences
between manuals and nonmanuals produced by older speakers and
signers. On that basis, several questions will be addressed: Is there any
correlation between the gesture/sign produced as regards their form and
function? Is space used for the same communicative purposes?
The data will be extracted from two corpora: The CorpAGEst corpus and the
LSFB corpus. Following a form-based approach to gesture and sign, the
samples will be manually annotated using the ELAN software. All
occurrences will be systematically tagged. This process will allow the
extraction of data and comparisons of results within the same corpus and
across corpora.
The benefits of this research are: (1) to foster scientific exchanges between
SL and gesture researchers, and shed new light on issues in aging, (2)
understand more about our language faculty in its multimodal aspect, (3)
achieve a better understanding of the interactive world of Belgian-French
speakers and signers in their late life, an issue with vital implications for our
future.
ground regarding the presence of gestures and the use of space in the two
modalities but they also differ. This project investigates the interactive
nature of gesture, sign, and space among older signers and speakers in
French Belgian Sign Language (LSFB) and Belgian French, and how aging
affects those means. Interactive gestures and signs function to regulate the
flow of social interaction. The signing and gesture spaces correspond to the
three-dimensional space in front of the speaker/signer’s body. The data will
be compared to conduct the first cross-linguistic study between LSFB and
Belgian French on these issues.
The main hypothesis is that aging affects gesture, sign, and space, given
the different changes occurring in the normal aging process. The second
hypothesis is that there will be quantitative and qualitative differences
between manuals and nonmanuals produced by older speakers and
signers. On that basis, several questions will be addressed: Is there any
correlation between the gesture/sign produced as regards their form and
function? Is space used for the same communicative purposes?
The data will be extracted from two corpora: The CorpAGEst corpus and the
LSFB corpus. Following a form-based approach to gesture and sign, the
samples will be manually annotated using the ELAN software. All
occurrences will be systematically tagged. This process will allow the
extraction of data and comparisons of results within the same corpus and
across corpora.
The benefits of this research are: (1) to foster scientific exchanges between
SL and gesture researchers, and shed new light on issues in aging, (2)
understand more about our language faculty in its multimodal aspect, (3)
achieve a better understanding of the interactive world of Belgian-French
speakers and signers in their late life, an issue with vital implications for our
future.
| Short title | Gesture, sign, and space in BF and LSFB |
|---|---|
| Status | Finished |
| Effective start/end date | 1/10/16 → 30/09/18 |
Attachment to an Research Institute in UNAMUR
- NALTT
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Student theses
-
Framing Language Through Gesture: Palm-Up, Index Finger-Extended Gestures, and Holds in spoken and signed interactions in French-speaking and signing Belgium
Author: LEPEUT, A., 1 Oct 2020Supervisor: Meurant, L. (Supervisor), Bolly, C. T. (External person) (Co-Supervisor), Vrydaghs, D. (President), Ferrara, L. N. (External person) (Jury), Van Herreweghe, M. (External person) (Jury) & Gabarró-López, S. (External person) (Jury)
Student thesis: Doc types › Doctor of Languages, Letters and Translation
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