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Spatial constructions of time: exploring co-speech gestures in lectures on programming
Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6859-1420
Umeå University, Faculty of Arts, Department of language studies. (CogLing)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8787-4266
Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden .ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2304-026X
2025 (English)In: Cognitive Semiotics, ISSN 2235-2066Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Spatiotemporal metaphors strongly affect our language about time. Time can be construed as an object that moves through space (time flies) or as a landscape through which we move (we are heading towards the weekend). Evidence of how speakers construe time can be found by observing their gestures. This study explores spatial constructions of time in co-speech gestures during programming lectures in Swedish upper-secondary classrooms. Data were collected from teachers' co-speech gestures while lecturing on programming, a context rich in temporal and sequential references. The results show that the teachers gesture in three directions, each with a specific function. Gestures along the vertical axis are used to talk about writing code as events on a vertical timeline. The programming convention where code lines are ordered top-down, indicating events in a particular order, is suggested as an explanation. Gestures along the sagittal axis are used when the teachers take an internal perspective. Gestures along the lateral axis are used when discussing events. This is a first exploration of how time concepts are construed in Swedish programming classrooms. The research provides a foundation for more extensive studies on the role of co-speech gestures in conceptualising time, particularly in educational settings involving technological interfaces.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Walter de Gruyter, 2025.
Keywords [en]
co-speech gesture, gesture analysis, linguistic analysis, metaphor, time
National Category
Comparative Language Studies and Linguistics Didactics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-236855DOI: 10.1515/cogsem-2025-2002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105003435452OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-236855DiVA, id: diva2:1947033
Available from: 2025-03-24 Created: 2025-03-24 Last updated: 2025-05-08

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Stolpe, KarinJohansson Falck, MarleneLarsson, Andreas
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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf