The process of learning is
complex and versatile because of the ability to communicate and comprehend
meaning without the use of speech or words. Gestures are one such non-verbal
communication that makes use of hand movements to convey information. Gestures
are a universal and inherent phenomenon in humans that are used in various
forms in people of all ages. A recent study led by Pilar Prieto, a researcher
at the Department of Translation and Language Sciences at Pompeu Fabra
University in Spain, examined the use of gestures on the development of
children’s narrative discourse. In the study, children are read stories with
the use of rhythmic gestures that accompanied keywords. The results of the
experiment showed that the children who learned stories with rhythmic gestures
showed significantly better narrative discourse, which includes their speech,
description, and also their ability to recall events of the story. The study
suggests the gestures, specifically rhythmic gestures, has the ability to
improve the narrative capabilities of children. These findings can have a major
impact on improving teaching methods and in possibly supporting children with
learning disabilities. Furthermore, gestures have been found to significantly
improve learning and remembering new words in children for both the first
language and in a new language. While the research demonstrates the numerous
benefits of learning with gestures, it raises the question of how and why
gestures have such effects.
Gestures are known to be important
in learning, however, the mechanisms through which it has this impact has not
been studied sufficiently. In the presentation of her research, “Learning math
by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old
children,” Dr. Elizabeth Wakefield explained the underlying neural impact of
learning math through speech and gesture on children. The researchers used fMRI
to compare the neural patterns of children who learned math through speech alone
and children who learned with speech and gesture together. The experiments
revealed that children who learned math with the use of both speech and
gestures displayed significantly greater activation in large regions of the
prefrontal cortex and frontal motor regions of the brain. This corresponds with
the fact that the children were able to incorporate the use of gesture in
solving the math problems into their understanding and showed greater retention
of information.
These findings shed light on how and
why gestures are a vital tool in learning. The results also demonstrate that
learning with gestures share a similar mechanism and characteristics as
learning with actions. Furthermore, there has been a significant amount of
research that proves the benefit of active learning and its importance in
teaching. Dr. Wakefield explained that learning through action on objects has a
direct impact on the external world, however, gestures simulate this effect
through the representation of information and subsequently promote learning.
The similar activation of motor regions in the brain with learning through
gestures and active learning suggests that the children are likely viewing that
math problems as objects and recalling the gestures as actions. Further research
on this relationship would greatly expand our understanding of the importance
of gestures. In conclusion, the research demonstrates the vital role of
gestures in improving learning in children and this information could be
particularly valuable in refining the childhood education system.
References:
Wakefield, E. M., Congdon, E. L., Novack, M. A.,
Goldin-Meadow, S., & James, K. H. (2019). Learning math by hand: The neural
effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children. Attention,
Perception, & Psychophysics. doi: 10.3758/s13414-019-01755-y https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01755-y
Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona. (2019, January 17). Telling
stories using rhythmic gesture helps children improve their oral skills. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved October 17, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190117142234.htm
Vilà-Giménez, I., & Prieto, P. (2018). Encouraging children
to produce rhythmic beat gestures leads to better narrative discourse
performances. 9th International Conference on Speech Prosody 2018. doi:
10.21437/speechprosody.2018-143
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