二语演讲中手势功能的实证分析

An Empirical Analysis of Functions of Gestures in L2 Public Speaking

手势研究是近年来国外语言学界兴起的一股新的研究潮流,其重点是手势与语言的关系。手势是演讲中的有机成分,在二语演讲中尤为重要,但目前关于二语演讲中手势的研究极少。对中国大学生英语演讲比赛视频中手势与语言关系加以分析发现,手势在二语演讲中具有多重功能,涉及语义、语音、语用、语篇多个层面,具体包括协助意义形象化、调节二语韵律、标记叙述层次及话题转换、构建语篇衔接连贯四个方面。手势与语言的多层面配合可以丰富二语者的表达资源,帮助观众对演讲内容的理解,增强二语演讲的交流效果。

In recent years, gesture study, with a focus on gesture-speech relations, is a relatively new research trend in western linguistics. Although gesture is widely acknowledged as an integral part in the delivery of public speech, there has been little theoretical or empirical analysis of its use. This paper analyzes the gestures in the videos of Chinese College students’ English speech contest, with the purpose to explore the functions of gesture in L2 public speaking. Four functions of gesture in the English public speaking are identified： 1 ） visualize the key, abstract information in speech by iconic gestures;2） indicate changes in narrative level and shifts in （sub）topics;3） help adjust prosodic features in the English oral production by beat gestures;4） work as cohesive devices to help construct the coherence of the discourse. The results indicate that gestures have multi-dimensional functions involving more than four levels of semantic, prosodic, pragmatic and textual levels of discourses. The integration of gestures and speech at multiple levels helps enrich L2 speaker’ s expressional resources, facilitate audience’ s comprehension of L2 speeches, and enhance the communicative effect of L2 speech.