David Quinto-Pozos, Sarika Mehta, Register variation in mimetic gestural complements to signed

language, In Journal of Pragmatics, Volume 42, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 557-584, ISSN 0378-2166.

- Register variation = variety of language used for a particular purpose, or in a specific setting.
Key concepts
- Constructed action: how a signer uses their own body to depict the actions and persona of a
character (role shifting), through signed utterances that represent the characters speech. Occurs
across various sign languages.
How? -torso position -eye gaze -facial expression
-limb movement -head tilt -overall stance
-head position -body orientation -lower body movements
- Important to note that constructed action is gesture, not language, as it does not possess various
features of language
- Mental space theory
- Constructed action to accompany spoken language?
- Context variation
- Change in settings can elicit different phonological, lexical or syntactic variants in
different contexts (e.g. casual, informal work-related, formal)
- Kaaren Bekken study
- Zimmer study
- Constructed action might be expected in different styles or registers of SL, even if content
were to be controlled
Main questions:
- Is constructed action produced in all settings? Or, is it the case that it fails to surface in
formal or other contexts?
- Does constructed action vary across different audiences and settings? If so,
- Are there patterns of constructed action production (with respect to body parts and
degree of emphasis) across audiences and settings?
- Method
- 2 Deaf, native ASL signers (Kevin and James) presented to various audiences at various
locations.
- Both presented a signed version of a single text (provided without guidance on how to
deliver) at 3 different locations in front of 3 different audiences. Text was about Don
Pettingill, a famous US Deaf leader who passed away in 2005.
- It was hypothesized that signers would engage in the use of constructed action as an
accompaniment to signed language when describing a) how a single character interacts
with her environment and b) how two or more characters interact with each other.
- Location/audience
- Children in classroom at school for the Deaf: Kevin standing in front of seated children on
the floor. James seated in front of seated children at table.
- Adults in formal setting: Kevin - lunchtime gathering at convention of a state chapter of
National Association for the Deaf. James - keynote presentation at a commencement
ceremony at a school for the Deaf.
- Adults in informal setting: Kevin - Deaf community centre where Deaf senior citizens were
gathering. James - casual dinner at his home, presented to his friends there.
- 3 specific anecdotes
- High-five anecdote: an account of how Don creates a bond with another Deaf man who
he had just met.
 - Both produced moderate to exaggerated facial expressions for both children and
adults.
- Torso shift most pronounced with children and formal setting adults, less so with
informal setting adults.
- Wheelchair anecdote: an anecdote that showed how Don loved to tell jokes.
- Both signers produce more emphatic torso shifts for transitions from narrator to a
character with adults in formal settings and children at school than in the informal
environments with adults.
- Presentation anecdote: a story of how Don captured the attention of an inattentive
student body when presenting at a school for the Deaf.
- Kevin used leg and foot movement (walking or shifting weight) when presenting
to the children and informal setting adults, but not the formal setting adults.
- James varied arm extension between settings to describe a character tripping:
formal and classroom settings saw his arms only partially extended, but in the
informal setting his arms were nearly fully extended.
- Kevin used constructed action more than James (69 versus 50), and was generally more
emphatic/exaggerated than James (27 versus 7 exaggerated actions)
Results
- Arm/hand movements: occurred in all contexts, but most emphatic with children
and informal adults.
- Torso movements: occurred in all contexts, but most emphatic with children.
- Legs and feet movements: occurred with children and informal senior citizen
adults, but not with all other adults.
- Torso shifts signalling transition: most emphatic with children and formal adults,
subtle with informal adults.
Trends
- Children in class setting: least use of slight constructed action
- Formal settings with adults: least use of exaggerated constructed action
- Children and formal adults had identical numbers use of moderate constructed
action (not slight, not exaggerated)
- Main answers:
- Yes, constructed action is produced throughout various registers/styles.
- Yes, variation can be present across signers in their production of constructed action
(many factors may influence this)
- Different body parts to support constructed action use can pattern differently across
audiences and settings.

Question: Why do signers seem to feel the need to use exaggerated constructed action in formal
situations to adults, but not informal situations to adults?