Effects of Learning with Gesture on Children's Understanding of a New Language Concept

Autor/inn/en	Wakefield, Elizabeth M.; James, Karin H.
Titel	Effects of Learning with Gesture on Children's Understanding of a New Language Concept
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 51 (2015) 8, S.1105-1114 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/a0039471
Schlagwörter	Nonverbal Communication; Speech Communication; Language Acquisition; Language Skills; Phonological Awareness; Predictor Variables; Learning Processes; Concept Formation; Children; Pretests Posttests; Elementary School Students; Video Technology; Teaching Methods; Visual Stimuli; Hypothesis Testing; Attention; Indiana + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Language skill; Sprachkompetenz; Prädiktor; Learning process; Lernprozess; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Child; Kind; Kinder; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Hypothesenprüfung; Hypothesentest; Aufmerksamkeit
Abstract	Asking children to gesture while being taught a concept facilitates their learning. Here, we investigated whether children benefitted equally from producing gestures that reflected speech (speech-gesture matches) versus gestures that complemented speech (speech-gesture mismatches), when learning the concept of palindromes. As in previous studies, we compared the utility of each gesture strategy to a speech alone strategy. Because our task was heavily based on language ability, we also considered children's phonological competency as a predictor of success at posttest. Across conditions, children who had low phonological competence were equally likely to perform well at posttest. However, gesture use was predictive of learning for children with high phonological competence: Those who produced either gesture strategy during training were more likely to learn than children who used a speech alone strategy. These results suggest that educators should be encouraged to use either speech-gesture match or mismatch strategies to aid learners, but that gesture may be especially beneficial to children who possess basic skills related to the new concept, in this case, phonological competency. Results also suggest that there are differences between the cognitive effects of naturally produced speech-gesture matches and mismatches, and those that are scripted and taught to children. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01