Exploring a Potential Universal Language: Non-Verbal Communication System Explored in New Study
In a groundbreaking study led by Şeyda Özçalışkan, a psychological scientist at Georgia State University, researchers suggest the existence of a universal, non-verbal communication system that transcends language barriers. The study, centered around children aged 3 to 12, delves into the intricate world of gestures, seeking to understand how individuals communicate without words.
Özçalışkan, a native Turkish speaker, has been investigating language development in various learner types and language speakers. The recent study focused on gestures as a form of non-verbal communication, aiming to discern insights into how children formulate and express ideas through silent gestures.
Gestures, a subset of non-verbal communication, include hand movements, body language, posture, eye contact, and facial expressions. The research aimed to discern whether gestures reflect linguistic patterns and how early children adopt these patterns.
The study involved 100 children, half of whom were native English speakers, and the other half spoke Turkish as their first language. English and Turkish, with distinct linguistic structures, provided a valuable comparison.
When children were asked to describe an action using both words and hand movements, their gestures aligned with the linguistic conventions of their native language. Turkish-speaking children organized their gestures sequentially, mirroring sentence structures, while English-speaking children condensed theirs into a single movement.
However, when the same scenes were described using only silent gestures, the sequences became remarkably similar across both language groups. This intriguing finding suggests that, without the influence of spoken language, children's non-verbal communication may share common patterns.
Özçalışkan's earlier work with adults, including blind English and Turkish speakers, revealed similar convergence in gesture patterns when refraining from speaking. While this research provides a compelling glimpse into the potential existence of a universal non-verbal communication system, the authors acknowledge the need for further exploration and a more extensive dataset.
This study challenges conventional notions of how language influences non-verbal communication and opens the door to a deeper understanding of our shared modes of expression. While the claim of a universal system remains tentative, the implications of this research could reshape our understanding of human communication across diverse linguistic backgrounds.
