Synchronization of (Dis)fluent Speech and Gesture: A Multimodal Approach to (Dis)fluency

Loulou Kosmala , Maria Candea (1) , Aliyah Morgenstern (2)

1 CLESTHIA - CLESTHIA - Langage, systèmes, discours - EA 7345
2 PRISMES - PRISMES - Langues, Textes, Arts et Cultures du Monde Anglophone - EA 4398

Disfluency is verbally expressed by several markers (filled, unfilled pauses, repetitions, self-repairs, etc). This study is grounded in the functionally ambivalent view of (Dis)fluency following Crible, (2017) and Götz (2013), but with a multimodal and interactional approach. Previous research has shown a coordination between speech and gesture suspension (Gullberg, 2013, 2018; Seyfedinnipur 2006). The aim of our paper is thus to examine how (dis)fluent speech and gestures can be synchronized, and how visual-gestural features can provide a finer understanding of (dis)fluency. Our analyses are conducted on 3 pairs of French and American speakers interacting both in their L1 and their L2. (Dis)fluency markers were annotated according to their multimodal features. Qualitative analyses revealed how the notions of time suspension and planning associated with (dis)fluency were also found in gesture. This strongly supports the idea that (dis)fluency is to be considered a multimodal phenomenon, and its visual cues are essential for a closer examination of its pragmatic functions.

Domaines: Linguistique

Loulou Kosmala, Maria Candea, Aliyah Morgenstern. Synchronization of (Dis)fluent Speech and Gesture: A Multimodal Approach to (Dis)fluency. Gesture and Speech in Interaction, 2019, Paderborn, Germany. ⟨hal-02360613⟩