Learning a new language presents numerous exciting challenges, and building a robust vocabulary often stands out as a significant hurdle for many students. However, innovative research from the University of Illinois suggests a surprisingly simple yet effective tool to enhance vocabulary acquisition: gestures. Even seemingly random hand movements, when paired with new words, can significantly improve a student’s ability to learn and remember them, paving the way for more effective language learning and fluency. This discovery offers valuable insights for both language learners and educators seeking to optimize the learning process and foster a deeper understanding of a new language.
A study led by educational psychology professor Kiel Christianson explored the impact of gestures on learning new vocabulary in Mandarin Chinese among native English speakers. The research, published in Language Learning, investigated whether pairing new words with gestures – both iconic (representative) and arbitrary (meaningless) – could improve vocabulary comprehension compared to learning words without any gestures.
Iconic gestures are those that visually represent the meaning of a word, like miming drinking to represent “drink” or holding a phone to your ear for “telephone.” Arbitrary gestures, in contrast, are simply made-up movements with no inherent connection to the word’s meaning. The study participants, none of whom had prior experience with Mandarin, were tasked with learning 18 new Mandarin words. These words were presented in three groups: one group paired with iconic gestures, another with arbitrary gestures, and a control group with no gestures. Instructors presented each word and its English translation twice, accompanied by the assigned gesture (or no gesture). Crucially, students only observed the gestures and did not perform them themselves.
Following two instructional sessions, the students were tested on their vocabulary retention. The results were compelling: students who learned words paired with either iconic or arbitrary gestures demonstrated an 8-10% improvement in recalling the words’ meanings compared to those who learned without gestures.
Alt: Instructor using hand gestures while teaching Mandarin vocabulary to students.
Christianson emphasizes that even a seemingly small 10% improvement can be significant, potentially boosting a student’s grade on a vocabulary test. More importantly, the study revealed that the gestures did not need to be inherently meaningful to be effective. “Instructors can use any unique hand movement that students do not associate with another word,” Christianson noted. This is particularly relevant because many abstract words are challenging to represent with iconic gestures. The findings suggest that the mere act of associating a unique gesture with a new word, regardless of its representational nature, can facilitate learning.
The researchers propose that observing gestures while learning new words helps students create a “kinetic image” of the word in their minds. This visual-motor association provides an additional pathway to encode and retrieve the word’s meaning. In the case of arbitrary gestures, students may even unconsciously create their own idiosyncratic associations between the meaningless gesture and the new word, further strengthening memory. Essentially, gestures create multiple sensory entry points for new vocabulary, making them more memorable and accessible.
Alt: Group of students attentively learning Mandarin vocabulary with gesture-based instruction.
However, the study also found a limitation: the benefit of gestures diminished when students were presented with more than 10-12 new words at a time. This suggests a practical pedagogical implication: language instructors should introduce new vocabulary in smaller, manageable batches. Instead of overwhelming students with large lists of words, educators should focus on teaching around 10 new words at a time, incorporating gestures to aid memorization, and allowing students sufficient time to consolidate their learning before introducing more vocabulary.
In conclusion, this research underscores the surprising power of gestures in foreign language vocabulary acquisition. Whether iconic or arbitrary, gestures provide a valuable tool for enhancing memory and comprehension. For language learners striving to expand their vocabulary and achieve fluency, and for educators seeking effective teaching strategies, incorporating gestures into vocabulary instruction can be a simple yet potent method to unlock language learning potential and help students on their path to becoming truly learned in a new language.
References:
Huang, X., Kim, N., & Christianson, K. (2020). Gesture and vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Language Learning, 70(3), 653-681.
