The traditional view that gestures play an important role in communication is so widespread and well-entrenched that comparatively little research has been done to assess the magnitude of their contribution, or to determine the kinds of information different types of gestures convey. Reviewing such evidence as exists, Kendon has concluded:
The gestures that people produce when they talk do play a part in communication and they do provide information to со participants about the semantic content of the utterances, although there clearly is variation about when and how they do so (Kendon 1994, p. 192). However, other researchers, considering the same studies, have concluded that the available evidence is both inconclusive and equally consistent with the view-that the gestural contribution to communication is, on the whole, negligible (Feyereisen and deLannoy 1991; Rime and Schiaratura, 1991; Krauss et al 1995). Below we will examine in some detail the question of whether gestures communicate.
One reason that gestures are so often ascribed a communicative function may be that it is not obvious what other functions they might serve...