The ability of 3- and 4-year-olds (N = 48) ability to (re)introduce main characters when narrating a picture-book was assessed, taking into account not only their use of nominal forms, but also their use of deictic point gestures and character speech. Using these paralinguistic means, 3-year-olds clarified a significantly larger proportion (43%) of their initially unclear (re)introductions than 4-year-olds did (21%), and attained the same final level of clarity. Thus, 3- and 4-year-olds appear similarly sensitive to the need to specify, unambiguously, referents in cases of (re)introduction, differing only in their linguistic ability to do so. These results support the view that gesture and affect form wholly integrated systems with speech, conveying nonredundant information.
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