Dr. Sarah Delmar, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, recently spoke about her research and its relation to the paper “How our hands help us learn” by Susan Goldin-Meadow and Susan M. Wagner. During her talk, she explained the impact of her research and her work with children to understand the neurological mechanisms underlying gesture in learning math. The paper by Goldin-Meadow and Wagner describes gesture-speech ‘mismatches’ that occur when gestures and speech convey different information. This phenomenon is essential because it indicates a readiness to learn. Delmar’s study also focused on this key insight. Essentially, the research suggests that gesturing reduces cognitive load by externalizing thought and freeing mental resources for problem-solving.
Language is linked to action through gesture. The results of the study raise interesting questions regarding how Deaf and hard of hearing individuals who communicate primarily through sign language might be impacted differently by gesture-speech learning. In a recent study titled “Gesture-Speech Integration in Typical and Atypical Adolescent Readers,” Yao et al. investigate the gesture-speech integration among adolescents who are Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and those with typical hearing. Previous literature has found gesture influential in three interrelated cognitive processes sub-serving second language (L2) word learning – communication, encoding, and recall. Based on previous evidence, this study compared gesture–speech integration (GSI) effects across visual and auditory modalities to examine the integration of language and gesture, the automaticity of GSI, and finally, to compare DHH and hearing automaticity regarding the integration of gesture and speech.
The study was conducted with 38 native, adolescent speakers of Chinese, 19 of whom were DHH who used assistive hearing technology, and were studying in educational programs where Chinese and Chinese Sign Language are used simultaneously. Using a Stroop-like lexical decision task with visually presented Chinese characters containing speech consistent or inconsistent with the meanings of gestures, participants were asked to decide whether speakers were male or female. High levels of automaticity and GSI were indicated in DHH and hearing participants, and results did not differ in the visual and auditory modalities. Automaticity in GSI among DHH participants differed by semantic and gender congruency in both conditions. There were also significantly larger effects of semantic and gender congruency in DHH participants compared to hearing participants. Thus, the results seemingly indicate that modality does not influence language processing in DHH individuals as extensively as in hearing individuals.
While Tao’s study is limited by a small sample size of a single age group, future avenues for this research are expansive. There are a few key distinctions between the study we heard about in the seminar and this study, including both the language tested and the overarching purpose. Although Delmar’s research focuses on math, this study emphasized the automaticity of gesture-speech integration. Additionally, Delmar’s research is in English, whereas Yao’s study compared Chinese to Chinese Sign Language. The results of both studies, however, emphasize the importance of gesture in learning and communication. Delmar’s talk highlighted gesture as an indicator of understanding and a readiness to learn, while this research publication focuses on its importance across hearing and DHH populations. Ultimately, gesture not only accompanies language, but it is also integral to thought, learning, and communication.
References:
Goldin-Meadow, S., & Wagner, S. M. (2005). How our hands help us learn. Trends in cognitive sciences, 9(5), 234–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.006
Yao, R., Guan, C. Q., Smolen, E. R., MacWhinney, B., Meng, W., & Morett, L. M. (2022). Gesture-Speech Integration in Typical and Atypical Adolescent Readers. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 890962. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.890962
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