Vursta, Vladimír (2025) Interpersonal Gesture Alignment in Individuals Speaking in their First or Second Language. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Interacting people align their behaviours and body movements. Gestures also exhibit this kind of alignment. The current thesis examined the differences in gesture alignment in dyadic conversation, when participants spoke in their first language (L1) or second language (L2). Thirty-three student dyads were asked to have a ten-minute conversation, discussing debate phrases developed to encourage conversation. Dyads were categorized into three language context groups: Both speaking in their first language (L1-L1), one speaking their first and the other speaking their second language (L1-L2) or both speaking their second language (L2-L2). The conversations were video recorded and annotated for gestures and speech analysis. The bachelor students were trained in gesture annotation using the M3D framework. Gesture alignment in each dyad was measured as alignment in gesture frequency (frequency difference) and alignment in gesture duration (duration difference) of the participants. The groups were compared for differences in gesture frequency alignment and gesture duration alignment using the Kruskal-Wallis test. We found no significant difference between the groups, which suggests that the groups expressed a similar degree of gesture alignment. Additional analysis revealed that the groups also did not significantly affect within dyad proficiency differences, suggesting insufficient diversity in language proficiency. There was also no relation between gesture alignment and proficiency differences. Future research should further explore the relationship between language proficiency and gesture alignment, using samples with greater diversity in language proficiency.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Jonge-Hoekstra, L. de |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jun 2025 09:16 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jun 2025 09:16 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4950 |
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