Gesture's Role in Learning

Professor Gale Stam, an international expert on second language learning and gesture from National Louis University in Chicago, was the speaker at the Schools Development Unit’s Teacher Enrichment Initiative on 29 July 2013.

In her talk entitled ‘Gestures Role in Learning’ attended by over 50 teachers in the Western Cape, Professor Stam gave an overview of the latest research on the importance of gesture and the body in cognition and learning.

Although we do not give the same value to nonverbal communication as we do to verbal communication, gestures are in fact vital for a child’s language development, says Stam. Gestures predict the onset of speech and are a key part of children’s learning from the pre-verbal stage right through school.

Children’s gestures show the teacher how they understand a concept before they can verbalize it. Gestures are visual representations of children’s thinking and are important clues for the teacher. At the same time, gestures enhance learning. Studies in mathematics, science and language classes demonstrate that, when teachers use gestures and encourage children to gesture, children grasp concepts faster and retain them for longer.

Stam’s take home message to teachers was to motivate them to use gestures to explain concepts in their classes and to encourage their learners to use gestures to talk about what they are learning.