Bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ use of gestures when telling a story: effects of proficiency and culture

Abstract

Researchers have speculated that proficiency in a language could affect the production of both referential and beat gestures. The primary purpose of the present study was to test whether bilinguals produced more referential and beat gestures than monolinguals, particularly in their second language. We also tested for possible effects of culture on gesture production by comparing speakers of both Farsi and Canadian French (on the one hand; English on the other). In the present study, Farsi–English bilinguals’ gesture production when telling a story was compared to that of French–English bilinguals and English monolinguals. We found effects of proficiency on gesture production: participants tended to use more beats in their second language than in their first. We also found effects of culture: Farsi–English bilinguals used fewer referential gestures in both languages than the other participants. We discuss these results in light of the multiple factors that contribute to gesture production.