What role do gestures play in language learning efficacy

Gestures play a significant and multifaceted role in enhancing language learning efficacy. They contribute to language acquisition by supporting memory retention, aiding comprehension, and reducing cognitive load during language production and learning. Gestures accompany speech by creating embodied representations of words and concepts, thus integrating physical movement with linguistic information. They facilitate vocabulary learning, narrative recall, and the acquisition of grammatical structures in both native and second languages. Benefits of gestures extend to both learners performing gestures themselves and those observing them, helping to reinforce semantic meaning and comprehension. Additionally, gestures help scaffold language learning by conveying meaning, compensating for speech difficulties, and fostering more effective communication and understanding.

Cognitive and Memory Benefits

Research shows that gesturing during language learning reduces the burden on verbal working memory, enabling learners to process and retain information more efficiently. Gestures help create vivid, embodied mental representations, which enhances the memorability of foreign language vocabulary and concepts. ^{1, 2, 3, 4}

Gesture and Language Acquisition Integration

Gestures and speech form an integrated communicative system, facilitating language production and comprehension at multiple linguistic levels, including morphology and syntax. Pointing and iconic gestures, in particular, have predictive value for later language development in children and language learners. ^{5, 6, 7}

Practical Application in Education

In educational settings, the combination of gestures with spoken or written language improves comprehension and recall, especially among young learners and second-language students. Gestures serve as a powerful tool for scaffolding and mediating learning processes, making abstract language elements more concrete and accessible. ^{8, 9, 10, 11}

Summary

Gestures enhance language learning efficacy by complementing verbal input with physical expression, easing cognitive demands, and creating multisensory learning experiences. They are effective for both understanding and producing language and are valuable across various learning levels and settings. ^{2, 3, 9, 1, 8}

References

• Benefits of Enacting and Observing Gestures on Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Bringing back the body into the mind: gestures enhance word learning in foreign language

• Verbal working memory predicts co-speech gesture: Evidence from individual differences

• Does Gesture Lighten the Load? The Case of Verbal Analogies

• Integrated Communication System: Gesture and Language Acquisition in Typically Developing Children and Children With LD and DLD

• Gesture for Linguists: A Handy Primer

• Can grammatical morphemes be taught? Evidence of gestures influencing second language procedural learning in middle childhood

• The Role of Gesture in the Second Language Learning and Teaching

• Editorial: Gesture-Speech Integration: Combining Gesture and Speech to Create Understanding

• Gestures as Scaffolding to Learn Vocabulary in a Foreign Language

• Gestures and the Spoken Language: A Crucial Semiotic and Symbiotic Relationship in Multilingual Mathematics Classes

• “Deep Learning Based Classification of Single-Hand South Indian Sign Language Gestures”

• A Comparison of the Effectiveness Architectures LSTM1024 and 2DCNN for Continuous Sign Language Recognition Process

• Reading the Room: Understanding and Enhancing Classroom Interaction with Nonverbal Communication

• Interpretation of Sign Language Using Machine Learning

• Sign language recognition based on deep learning with neural network

• Atom Search Optimization with Deep Learning Enabled Arabic Sign Language Recognition for Speaking and Hearing Disability Persons

• Human-computer interaction in virtual reality environments for educational and business purposes

• Social Robots supporting the Inclusion of Unaccompanied Migrant Children: Teaching the Meaning of Culture-Related Gestures

• Sign2Text Conversion

• Language learning

• Beat Gestures for Comprehension and Recall: Differential Effects of Language Learners and Native Listeners

• Beat Gestures for Comprehension and Recall: Differential Effects of Language Learners and Native Listeners

• Bringing back the body into the mind: gestures enhance word learning in foreign language

• A Hands‐On Approach to Learning: Gesture Production During Encoding and its Effect on Narrative Recall

• When Speech Stops, Gesture Stops: Evidence From Developmental and Crosslinguistic Comparisons