In hand and in mind: Effects of gesture production and viewing on second language word learning

Abstract

To date, within the context of second language (L2) word learning, nonspontaneous representational gesture viewing's impact on memory and spontaneous gesture production's impact on communication have been examined separately. Thus, it is unclear whether and how these effects interact, particularly in the same individuals. The present study addresses this question by comparing these effects and by examining their influence on one another. To do so, a dialogic task was employed in which participants learned words from a novel L2 and taught them to other similar participants. The results show that viewing nonspontaneous representational gesture did not affect L2 word recall whereas spontaneous production of different gesture types affected communication and memory of L2 word meanings in varying ways. Furthermore, the results provide evidence that gesture viewing primes production of similar types of gestures, and that the quantity and types of gestures produced differ based on the context of communication. These results indicate that the effects of spontaneous gesture production on communication are stronger than the effects of nonspontaneous gesture viewing on memory, and that these effects influence one another. Together, these results demonstrate that spontaneous gesture production and nonspontaneous gesture viewing play distinct but interrelated roles in L2 acquisition.

Gesture as simulated action: Revisiting the framework

“…One proposal for how gestures might come to have their facilitative effects for listeners is that seeing a speaker gesture activates a simulation of the gesture in the listeners' motor systems, or in some cases, encourages the listener to actually produce a similar gesture (e.g., Iani & Bucciarelli, 2017;Ping, Goldin-Meadow, & Beilock, 2014;Quandt, Marshall, Shipley, Beilock, & Goldin-Meadow, 2012). Indeed, seeing others' gestures prompts listeners to use similar gestures when they talk about the same topics (Child, Theakston, & Pika, 2014;Kimbara, 2006;Mol, Krahmer, Maes, & Swerts, 2012;Morett, 2018).…”

Non-verbal Enrichment in Vocabulary Learning With a Virtual Pedagogical Agent

“…Testing adult learners, Morett (2014Morett ( , 2018 obtained similar results and showed that gesture production facilitates L2 words (Hungarian) recall more effectively than gesture viewing. In sum, gesture-based benefits on memorizing linguistic materials occur both when participants perform the gestures themselves and also when they just observe the gestures produced by others (cf.…”

Gesture-enhanced recasts have limited effects: A case of the regular past tense

“…Similarly, intervention studies have reported that using gestures helps vocabulary teaching (e.g. Kelly et al, 2009;Macedonia et al, 2011;Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014;Morett, 2018;Tellier, 2008), the teaching of tones and intonations (e.g. Morett & Chang, 2015;Yuan, González-Fuente, Baills, & Prieto, 2019), but not segmental phonology (e.g.…”

“…If so, the participants should be able to understand the meaning or intention of recasts better when they are accompanied with gestures (2) A collection of gestural studies has shown that seeing the gestures that describe the meaning of the L2 vocabulary helps vocabulary learning (e.g. Kelly et al, 2009;Macedonia et al, 2011;Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014;Morett, 2018;Tellier, 2008). Then, seeing teachers' gestures that metaphorically explain the meaning of a grammatical function may help with L2 grammar learning.…”