Language and Gesture Laboratory

Welcome to our lab! We are a team of researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students who are interested in investigating topics related to the role of gesture (spontaneous hand movement produced while speaking or thinking) plays in language and cognitive development, cognitive processes, and special education. 

We address three main questions:

1) How does the communication system emerge? Are there any linguistic elements in silent gestures (i.e., gestures produced without speech)?

2) How do children with special needs (especially those diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum) speak and gesture different from their typically developing peers? How do these differences tell us about language and gesture development and associated factors?

3) How do children with autism spectrum disorder benefit from the robot-based intervention program? Are there any individual variations in the learning outcomes? 

Research supported by 

Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong