What does gesture size tell us about L2 language acquisition and use?

Based on the view that speech and gesture jointly express meaning, this study examined the size of gestures accompanying ideophones in L2 Japanese as made by speakers with English and Korean. Thirteen English-speaking L2 Japanese speakers and 22 Korean-speaking L2 Japanese speakers narrated the content of short video clips. The analysis of speech and gesture showed that the size of gesture accompanying ideophones is influenced by the grammatical integration of ideophones in speech. The results also showed that gesture size reflects the varying communicative ends that underlie L2 speech.