The later Wittgenstein’s emphasis on the social usage of language has been very influential in psychology, particularly in language acquisition research. This move toward a pragmatic position
should also be applied to gestures in pre-linguistic children and to objects in the everyday contexts of use. The shared ‘forms of life’ presupposed by language involve pre-linguistic gestures and
material ‘things’. Research on early communication has focused on proto-declarative and proto-imperative gestures. I extend this focus and propose further types of gestures: ‘proto-interrogatives’ – in which children "‘ask’’ for help or regulation from adults, and three types of ‘private
gestures’ – ostensive, indexical and symbolic – in which children regulate their own behaviour. This diversity of gestures becomes apparent when objects are taken seriously. Wittgenstein’s
‘language-games’ necessarily apply to games with objects and gestures as well: social meaning in all cases is emergent within the context of these ‘sign games’ and ‘circumstances.’ |