A Multimodal Analysis of Teachers’ Two-handed Gestures in English Vocabulary Teaching

Research Article
Open access

A Multimodal Analysis of Teachers’ Two-handed Gestures in English Vocabulary Teaching

Mengjie Li 1*
  • 1 English Department, Sichuan Technology and Business University, Meizhou Avenue, Chengdu, China    
  • *corresponding author limengjiehk2015@163.com
Published on 1 March 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/2/2022310
LNEP Vol.2
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-07-2
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-08-9

Abstract

This paper selected a video from an English vocabulary teaching course and analyzed the teacher’s two-handed gestures, class discourse, and teaching procedures based on a multimodal discourse analysis framework. The researcher tried to explore the use of two-handed gestures in English vocabulary teaching classrooms and the relationship between gestures, teaching procedures, and discourse. It was concluded that beats are the most frequently-used gesture in this class which play an important communicative role in teaching as well as supports the teacher’s discourse. It appears frequently when the teacher’s discourse switches between two languages. This study enriches the corpus of pedagogical research applying multimodality and can provide a reference for the development of multimodal teaching.

Keywords:

Multimodal discourse analysis, English vocabulary course, Gestures

Li,M. (2023). A Multimodal Analysis of Teachers’ Two-handed Gestures in English Vocabulary Teaching. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,2,385-391.
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References

[1]. Kendon, A. (1980). Gesticulation and speech: Two aspects of the process of utterance. In M. R.Key (Ed.), The relationship of verbal and nonverbal communication (pp. 207–227). The Hague,Netherlands: Mouton Publishers.

[2]. McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about thought. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

[3]. Bavelas, J. B., Chovil, N., Coates, L., & Roe, L. (1995). Gestures specialized for dialogue.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 394–40.

[4]. Hanks, W. F. (1992). The indexical ground of deictic reference. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 43–76). New York: Cambridge University Press.

[5]. Goldin-Meadow, S., & Butcher, C. (2003). Pointing toward two-word speech in young children.In Pointing (pp. 93-116). Psychology Press.

[6]. Gullberg, M. (2008)Language-specific encoding of placement events in gestures. In EventRepresentation in Language and Cognition (pp. 166–188). Cambridge University Press.

[7]. Li, H. (2013). Cognitive Identity of Gestural Metaphor and Verbal Metaphor: An Analysis of English Speech Competitions in China. Journal of Xi'an International Studies University, (2) : 29-32.

[8]. Ma, L.J.,& Zhang, J.J. (2011).Does the Language Concomitant Gesture Share the Same, Communication System As the Language? Advances in Psychological Science, (7) : 983-992.

[9]. Allen, L. Q. (2000). Nonverbal Accommodations in Foreign Language Teacher Talk. Applied, Language Learning , 11 (1), 155-76.

[10]. Belhiah, H. (2013). Using the hand to choreograph instruction: On the functional role of gesture, in defifinition talk. The Modern Language Journal, 97(2),

[11]. Jewitt, C. E. (2011). The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis . Routledge/Taylor &, Francis Group.

[12]. Halliday, M., & Matthiessen, C. (2014). An introduction to functional grammar . Routledge.

[13]. Martin, J. R. (1992). English text: System and structure . John Benjamins Publishing.

[14]. Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2020). Reading images: The grammar of visual design . Routledge

[15]. Zhang, D.L., (2010). The Design of Multimodal Foreign Language Teaching and the Exploration of Modal Invocation, Chinese Foreign Language, 7(3).

[16]. Jiang, X.Q., & Ding, Y. (2012). On the Theoretical Framework of the New College English, Teaching Model under the Modern Educational Technology. Audio-Visual Foreign Language, Teaching, (6).

[17]. Shin, D. S., Cimasko, T., & Yi, Y. (2020). Development of metalanguage for multimodal, composing: A case study of an L2 writer’s design of multimedia texts. Journal of Second, Language Writing , 47 , 100714.

[18]. Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language, writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing , 47 , 100710.

[19]. Varaporn, S., & Sitthitikul, P. (2019). Effects of multimodal tasks on students’ critical reading, ability and perceptions.

[20]. Nima, H. N. A. (2018). Energizing Students’ Reading Comprehension Through Multimodal Texts. International Journal of Language Education, 2(2), 14-22.

[21]. Lee, S. S., Azman, H., & Noor, N. M. (2018). A responsive pedagogical initiative for multimodal oral presentation skills: An action research study: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 24(2).

[22]. Macaulay, R. (1976). The role of vocabulary teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 20(2), 131-6.

[23]. Roth, W. M. (2001). Gestures: Their role in teaching and learning. Review of educational, research, 71(3), 365-392.

[24]. Li, X. T. (2014). Multimodality,Interactionand Turn-taking in Mandarin Conversation., Amsterdam:John Benjamins.


Cite this article

Li,M. (2023). A Multimodal Analysis of Teachers’ Two-handed Gestures in English Vocabulary Teaching. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,2,385-391.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries (ICEIPI 2022), Part I

ISBN:978-1-915371-07-2(Print) / 978-1-915371-08-9(Online)
Editor:Abdullah Laghari, Nasir Mahmood
Conference website: https://www.iceipi.org/
Conference date: 4 August 2022
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.2
ISSN:2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Kendon, A. (1980). Gesticulation and speech: Two aspects of the process of utterance. In M. R.Key (Ed.), The relationship of verbal and nonverbal communication (pp. 207–227). The Hague,Netherlands: Mouton Publishers.

[2]. McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about thought. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

[3]. Bavelas, J. B., Chovil, N., Coates, L., & Roe, L. (1995). Gestures specialized for dialogue.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 394–40.

[4]. Hanks, W. F. (1992). The indexical ground of deictic reference. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 43–76). New York: Cambridge University Press.

[5]. Goldin-Meadow, S., & Butcher, C. (2003). Pointing toward two-word speech in young children.In Pointing (pp. 93-116). Psychology Press.

[6]. Gullberg, M. (2008)Language-specific encoding of placement events in gestures. In EventRepresentation in Language and Cognition (pp. 166–188). Cambridge University Press.

[7]. Li, H. (2013). Cognitive Identity of Gestural Metaphor and Verbal Metaphor: An Analysis of English Speech Competitions in China. Journal of Xi'an International Studies University, (2) : 29-32.

[8]. Ma, L.J.,& Zhang, J.J. (2011).Does the Language Concomitant Gesture Share the Same, Communication System As the Language? Advances in Psychological Science, (7) : 983-992.

[9]. Allen, L. Q. (2000). Nonverbal Accommodations in Foreign Language Teacher Talk. Applied, Language Learning , 11 (1), 155-76.

[10]. Belhiah, H. (2013). Using the hand to choreograph instruction: On the functional role of gesture, in defifinition talk. The Modern Language Journal, 97(2),

[11]. Jewitt, C. E. (2011). The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis . Routledge/Taylor &, Francis Group.

[12]. Halliday, M., & Matthiessen, C. (2014). An introduction to functional grammar . Routledge.

[13]. Martin, J. R. (1992). English text: System and structure . John Benjamins Publishing.

[14]. Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2020). Reading images: The grammar of visual design . Routledge

[15]. Zhang, D.L., (2010). The Design of Multimodal Foreign Language Teaching and the Exploration of Modal Invocation, Chinese Foreign Language, 7(3).

[16]. Jiang, X.Q., & Ding, Y. (2012). On the Theoretical Framework of the New College English, Teaching Model under the Modern Educational Technology. Audio-Visual Foreign Language, Teaching, (6).

[17]. Shin, D. S., Cimasko, T., & Yi, Y. (2020). Development of metalanguage for multimodal, composing: A case study of an L2 writer’s design of multimedia texts. Journal of Second, Language Writing , 47 , 100714.

[18]. Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language, writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing , 47 , 100710.

[19]. Varaporn, S., & Sitthitikul, P. (2019). Effects of multimodal tasks on students’ critical reading, ability and perceptions.

[20]. Nima, H. N. A. (2018). Energizing Students’ Reading Comprehension Through Multimodal Texts. International Journal of Language Education, 2(2), 14-22.

[21]. Lee, S. S., Azman, H., & Noor, N. M. (2018). A responsive pedagogical initiative for multimodal oral presentation skills: An action research study: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 24(2).

[22]. Macaulay, R. (1976). The role of vocabulary teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 20(2), 131-6.

[23]. Roth, W. M. (2001). Gestures: Their role in teaching and learning. Review of educational, research, 71(3), 365-392.

[24]. Li, X. T. (2014). Multimodality,Interactionand Turn-taking in Mandarin Conversation., Amsterdam:John Benjamins.