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Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 173:1 (2022) ► pp.18–57

Increasing second language production with gestures

ORCID logo | RMIT University , Australia

Gesture-based methods of teaching second languages have increasingly attracted interest. Previous research has linked gesture with language learning; however, little is known about the impact on learners’ language production, and even less is known about the impact of the unique Intentional Teaching Gestures (ITG) used in many second language programs. This empirical case study investigated the impact of learning with ITG on the oral language production of 170 primary school students learning Japanese as a second language in Australia, using a quasi-experimental approach with Story Re-tell methodology. Findings identify that viewing ITG increased learners’ language retrieval and quantity of oral language produced and highlight the pedagogical value of viewing ITG as a scaffolding tool.

Keywords: second language production, second language learning, language retrieval, intentional teaching gestures, gesture
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Intentional Teaching Gestures
    • Action language
    • Gesture and language learning
    • Gesture and L2 comprehension
    • Gesture and L2 production
    • Theoretical framework
    • The present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Ethics
    • Materials
    • Research approach
    • Context
    • Procedure
    • Coding
    • Reliability
  • Results
    • Analysis 1 – Comparison of ITG and non-ITG approaches when doing Story Re-tell
    • Term 1 Number of words
    • Term 1 Average length of utterances
    • Term 2 Number of words
    • Term 2 Average length of utterances
    • Analysis 2 – Comparison of Story Re-tell with and without viewing ITG
    • Term 1 number of words
    • Term 1 average length of utterance
    • Term 2 number of words
    • Term 2 average length of utterance
  • Discussion
    • Viewing ITG supports language retrieval
    • Viewing ITG provides language scaffolding
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 3 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.20008.wil
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