Spatial topology in Singapore English: explorations in gesture forms and language universality
Present-day investigations into spatial language have developed to a point of abstraction. Investigations capitalise on the breadth of research preceding them by opting to innovate at the post-hoc level; existing methods are thus truncated to derive presumed data primed for further research. As a...
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Format: | Final Year Project |
Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2024
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/177615 |
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Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
Language: | English |
Summary: | Present-day investigations into spatial language have developed to a point of
abstraction. Investigations capitalise on the breadth of research preceding them by
opting to innovate at the post-hoc level; existing methods are thus truncated to
derive presumed data primed for further research. As a result, the landscape of
spatial language data is predominantly lexical themed. This study represents a pilot
effort to broadly innovate spatial language investigation at the experimental level. A
novel framework for analysing gesture as spatial language is inserted into an
established research paradigm, and the results recorded to observe for potential
patterns. Thirty participants were tasked to, in Singapore English, spatially encode
eight scenes maximally representing topological space. Encodement forms at both
verbal expression and physical gesture were recorded. Results showed that lexical
spatial encodement patterns displays marginal differences at the varietal level, that
gesture display their own range of encodement patterns delineated by participant
idiosyncrasy, and that terms and gesture, while linked, featured minimal levels of
encodement foci. This paper posits an initial study of spatial language at the
intersection of lexicality and gesture–that while gesture and spatial language are
salient markers of space, further research must be taken to unearth their
correspondence. |
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