This study investigated the role of gesture in and of itself and in conjunction with speech in creating zones of proximal development (ZPD) for second language learning and teaching. A university student of English, newly arrived in the United States, was videorecorded once a week in conversational interaction with an American graduate student, an ESL/EFL teacher, over two different periods lasting 15 weeks altogether. The view taken in the study of Vygotsky's concept of the ZPD follows that of Newman and Holtzman (1993), who argued that it primarily concerns revolutionary activity, that learning and teaching transforms as a consequence of interacting in the ZPD, and that this affects all participants. Findings indicate the important role that gesture played both in promoting language learning and in facilitating positive interaction between the two participants, helping to create a sense of shared social, symbolic, physical, and mental space.DEFINING IN FUNCTIONAL TERMS THE zone of proximal development (ZPD) in relation to teaching and learning, Vygotsky (1978) suggested that "what is in the zone of proximal development today will be the actual developmental level tomorrow-that is, what a child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow" (p. 87). Within education there has been a tendency to treat this concept as a mechanism that can be enlisted by teachers to measure an individual's deficits in relation to the subject matter at hand. This tendency ignores the central idea that the ZPD is a function of co-construction: The identities of learners and their interactants make a critical difference. Furthermore, the contexts of interaction-the setting, artifacts, and use of symbolic tools-must be included when considering cognitive development (which, as pointed out by Vygotsky, is inseparable from affective/volitional elements) within activity theory (Wertsch, 1998), the framework most suited to considering the ZPD within sociocultural theory. Also, as suggested by Newman and Holtzman (1993), there has been an undue emphasis on the spatial metaphor in considering the ZPD, that is, speaking of what is "in" the zone. Newman and Holtzman argued that the ZPD is not so much a "place" as an "activity," and moreover, it is a revolutionary activity that can lead to both learning and transformation for all involved. Thus, Newman and Holtzman characterized the ZPD as a "tool and result" as opposed to a "tool for result" (pp. 46-47). It is both process and product at the same time in much the way that the poet, e. e. cummings, changed the conventions of printed English (i.e., capitalization) in writing his poems. That is, he transformed the language in the process of using it. Nor of course were such innovations arbitrary, they were done to change the sense (psychological association) of what was represented through the use of script. It is this perspective of the ZPD in relation to gesture and second language (L2) learning that I wish to pursue in this study.Learning a new language-culture in a c...
This paper explores the possibility that L2 learners utilize gesture, like speech, for intrapersonal problem solving. Kita (2000) argued that the “default” organization of information when speaking is analytic but that the use of representational gestures, specifically iconic and abstract deictic gestures, can constitute a spatio‐motoric mode of thinking, that is, that we deploy “gesturing for thinking”. Thus, Kita believes that gestures are actional as opposed to representational and form as part of the physical environment in conjunction with the cognitive system. In applying this perspective to second language learning, it is argued in the current study that, because of an inability to fully command discourse in the L2, at times learners utilize this mode of thinking. There is also speculation that the use of gestures in the form of beats in relation to prosodic features, notably intonation and syllable structure, may be a form of enaction, that is, internalizing the L2 through embodied processes.
The title of this special issue, Gesture and SLA: Toward an Integrated Approach, stems in large part from the idea known as integrationism, principally set forth by Harris~2003, 2005!, which posits that it is time to "demythologize" linguistics, moving away from the "orthodox exponents" that have idealized the notion of language+ The integrationist approach intends a view that focuses on communication-that is, language in use, language as a "fact of life"~Harris, 2003, p+ 50!+ Although not all gesture studies embrace an integrationist view-indeed, the field applies numerous theories across various disciplines-it is nonetheless true that to study gesture is to study what has traditionally been called paralinguistic modes of interaction, with the paralinguistic label given on the assumption that gesture is not part of the core meaning of what is rendered linguistically+ However, arguably, most researchers within gesture studies would maintain just the opposite: The studies presented in this special issue reflect a view whereby gesture is regarded as a central aspect of language in use, integral to how we communicate~make meaning! both with each other and with ourselves+ To begin, it is important to point out that there is a large and growing body of research on gesture across a number of disciplines, including anthropology, communication studies, social and developmental psychology, cognitive science~which includes cognitive neuroscience!, sociology, and others~for an overview, see Kendon, 2004!+ However, to date there has been comparatively little investigation of gesture within applied linguistics or SLA research
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