Speakers spontaneously improvise conversational hand gestures in tight conjunction with the words that their gestures supplement and augment. Our research shows that, in face-to-face dialogue, gestures help convey the speaker’s full meaning and also serve interactive functions that facilitate the process of dialogue. The starred articles below are good ones to start with.
Bavelas, J. B., Gerwing, G., Allison, M., & Sutton, C. (2011). Dyadic Evidence for Grounding with Abstract Deictic Gestures.
Gerwing, J., & Allison, M. (2009). The relationship between verbal and gestural contributions in conversation: A comparison of three methods. Gesture, 9, 312-336.
*Bavelas, J. B., Gerwing, J., Sutton, C., & Prevost, D. (2008). Gesturing on the telephone: Independent effects of dialogue and visibility.
Bavelas, J. B., & Gerwing, J. (2007). Conversational hand gestures and facial displays in face-to-face dialogue.
Bavelas, J. B., & Chovil, N. (2006). Hand gestures and facial displays as part of language use in face-to-face dialogue.
Gerwing, J., & Bavelas, J. B. (2004). Linguistic influences on gesture’s form.
Bavelas, J. B., Kenwood, C., Johnson, T., & Phillips, B. (2002). An experimental study of when and how speakers use gestures to communicate.
Bavelas, J. B. (2000). Nonverbal aspects of fluency.
Bavelas, J. B., & Chovil, N. (2000). Visible acts of meaning. An integrated message model of language use in face-to-face dialogue.
*Bavelas, J. B., Chovil, N., Coates, L., and Roe, L. (1995). Gestures specialized for dialogue.
Bavelas, J. B. (1994). Gestures as part of speech: Methodological implications.
Bavelas, J. B., Chovil, N., Lawrie, D. A., & Wade, A. (1992). Interactive gestures.
