Brief training with co-speech gesture lends a hand to word learning in a foreign language

Kelly, Spencer D.; McDevitt, Tara; Esch, Megan

doi:10.1080/01690960802365567

Cited by 220 publications

(219 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Later research involving adult participants (mean age 18.5 years) indicated that semantically relevant gestures were instrumental in increasing recall of L2 vocabulary, and that gesture had a direct effect on measureable brain activity (Kelly, McDevitt and Esch 2009). In other words, it was found that gestures enriched encoding rather than merely directing learner attention.…”

Section: Gesture and L2 Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meaningful gestures improve recall (Cohen and Otterbein 1992;Feyereisen 1996;Kelly, McDevitt and Esch 2009) and slow attrition (Allen 1995). Furthermore, a convincing explanation has been offered for younger learners favouring kinaesthetic presentation of language due to developmental considerations (Baker-Ward, Ornstein and Holden 1984;Daniels 1997;Schneider and Sodian 1991;Tellier 2008).…”

Section: Gesture and L2 Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

Porter

2012

The Language Learning Journal

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Finding ways to make language teaching practices both active and effective is of great importance for young learners. However, extending the foreign language production of young learners in instructional settings beyond the naming of objects is often challenging. The memorisation abilities of very young learners (children aged 5-7) sometimes appear limited and attrition is a major issue, given the onceweekly teaching sessions which are a common model for UK primary modern foreign language instruction. This study explored the effectiveness of gestures, as a form of elaborated encoding for young learners, in aiding target language memorisation and slowing attrition through the implementation of a strict teaching protocol and a bespoke pedagogical tool. Findings show significant advantage for short-term retention of a story told with both gestures and pictures when compared with a story told with pictures only. Delayed post-test scores for the gestured story demonstrate a greater rate of attrition from a higher initial mean score than the non-gestured story. This study will therefore assert that gestures boost memorisation due to retrieval cues and richer memory traces. However, it will also note that, when considering longer-term retention, a higher rate of attrition for the gestured story shows that a richer trace alone is not enough. In other words, whilst elaborated processing enhances memorisation, even richer traces need refreshing through repetition and retrieval practice.

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Section: Gesture and L2 Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gesture and L2 Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

Porter

2012

The Language Learning Journal

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“…There is increasing evidence that gesturing has positive effects on learning of different types of cognitive tasks, such as math (e.g., Cook et al, 2008;Goldin-Meadow et al, 2001;Novack, Congdon, Hemani-Lopez, & Goldin-Meadow, 2014), and language (e.g., Allen, 1995;Kelly et al, 2009;Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014;Tellier, 2008;Thomas & Lleras, 2009;Trofatter et al, 2015).…”

Section: Effects Of Part-body Movementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More subtle movements, such as gestures, are typically integrated into the learning task and are only effective when they are meaningful for or congruent with the learning task (Kelly, McDevitt, & Esch, 2009;Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014;Trofatter, Kontra, Beilock, & Goldin-Meadow, 2015). There is increasing evidence that gesturing has positive effects on learning of different types of cognitive tasks, such as math (e.g., Cook et al, 2008;Goldin-Meadow et al, 2001;Novack, Congdon, Hemani-Lopez, & Goldin-Meadow, 2014), and language (e.g., Allen, 1995;Kelly et al, 2009;Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014;Tellier, 2008;Thomas & Lleras, 2009;Trofatter et al, 2015).…”

Section: Effects Of Part-body Movementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Integrated Physical Exercises and Gestures on Preschool Children’s Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning

et al. 2015

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Research suggests that integrating human movement into a cognitive learning task can be effective for learning due to its cognitive and physiological effects. In this study, the learning effects of enacting words through whole-body movements (i.e., physical exercise) and part-body movements (i.e., gestures) were investigated in a foreign language vocabulary task. Participants were 111 preschool children of 15 childcare centers, who were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Participants had to learn 14 Italian words in a 4-week teaching program. They were tested on their memory for the words during, directly after, and 6 weeks after the program. In the integrated physical exercise condition, children enacted the actions indicated by the words to be learned in physical exercises. In the non-integrated physical exercise condition children performed physical exercises at the same intensity, but unrelated to the learning task. In the gesturing condition, children enacted the actions indicated by the words to be learned by gesturing while remaining seated. In the conventional condition, children verbally repeated the words while remaining seated. Results confirmed the main hypothesis, indicating that children in the integrated physical exercise condition achieved the highest learning outcomes. Implications of integrated physical exercise programs for preschool children's cognition and health are discussed. AbstractResearch suggests that integrating human movement into a cognitive learning task can

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“…Macedonia (2013) proposes a technique where the instructor says a word while performing an iconic gesture (e.g., cupping one's hand and tilting it downward for "to pour"), and the learners repeat both word and gesture. Although there are limits to when such gestures can be used-for example, gestures for similar concepts can overlap and gestures alone cannot illustrate the meanings of abstract words-studies have found that words learned in this VOLUmE 34, iSSUE 1,2016 manner are recalled better (Kelly, McDevitt, & Esch, 2009;Morett, 2014) and used more in writing (Macedonia & Knösche, 2011) than are words learned via L1 translations, potentially because adding gestures leaves deeper memory traces (Kelly et al, 2009). Learner involvement appears to be another factor: studies have shown that gestures lead to better word recall than do other visual supports, such as pictures, especially when learners actively repeat both word and gesture (Mayer, Yildiz, Macedonia, & von Kriegstein, 2015;Tellier, 2008).…”

Section: Gestures In L2 Vocabulary Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

L2 Vocabulary Teaching with Student- and Teacher-Generated Gestures: A Classroom Perspective

Clark¹,

Trofimovich²

2017

TESL Canada

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This action research project explored the use of gestures for teaching and learning Cette recherche-action action a exploré l'utilisation de gestes pour l'enseignement et l'apprentissage du vocabulaire en français dans un cours pour adultes débu-tants-intermédiaires. Les 21 étudiants avaient divers antécédents linguistiques. Au cours de 4 semaines, l'enseignant a développé et mis en oeuvre 4 ensembles d'activités thématiques impliquant des gestes conçues par l'enseignant et d'autres par les étudiants, et visant la présentation de nouveaux éléments de vocabulaire. On encourageait les étudiants à jouer un rôle actif dans la création de gestes. Des observations détaillées des activités en classe et les notes de l'enseignant indiquent

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Brief training with co-speech gesture lends a hand to word learning in a foreign language

Cited by 220 publications

References 47 publications

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

Effects of Integrated Physical Exercises and Gestures on Preschool Children’s Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning

L2 Vocabulary Teaching with Student- and Teacher-Generated Gestures: A Classroom Perspective

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