ABSTRACT
Our focus in this chapter is on the construction of meaning in a second language (L2) as it is manifested through gesture-speech synchronicity as this process compares to the way in which first language (L1) users construct meaning. We are particularly interested in gestures that either do not synchronize with speech, as called for by the Growth Point (GP) model of speech-gesture interface developed by McNeill (1992 and 2005), or where speech appears to lack co-expressivity with gesture even when synchronicity is not violated. The data to be considered are taken from the same study reported on in Negueruela et al. (2004), although in the present case, we will not be specifically concerned with motion events, as was true for the earlier study, but will instead concentrate on deictic and iconic gestures, as described below.
