The Cambridge Handbook of Gesture Studies

The study of gesture-the movements people make with their hands when talking-has grown into a well-established field and research is still being pushed into exciting new directions. Bringing together a team of leading scholars this Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of gesture studies combining historical overviews as well as current concise snapshots of state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research. Organised into five thematic parts it considers the roles of both psychological and interactional processes in gesture use and considers the status of gesture in relation to language. Attention is given to different theoretical and methodological frameworks for studying gesture including semiotic linguistic cognitive developmental and phenomenological theories and observational experimental corpus linguistic ethnographic and computational methods. It also contains practical guidelines for gesture analysis along with surveys of empirical research. Wide ranging yet accessible it is essential reading for academic researchers and students in linguistics and cognitive sciences.