Gestures are a type of non-verbal communication used by a speaker to aid communication. McNeill (1985) interprets gestures as the second channel of communication, in which the first channel of communication is actual speech, thus implying that gestures add on to speech production. Alibali et al. (2001) conducted a series of experiments to see whether speakers would use gestures differently depending on the need to see gestures when communicating. The results revealed that speakers would continue to use gestures when communicating regardless of the listener’s visibility of their gestures.
In this chapter, we will discuss the role of gestures in language evolution by focusing on the Gestural Theory and how gestures have contributed to an emergence of a new sign language today.
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