Embodied pedagogical practice in learning new words in French Kindergarten children

authors

• Cauna Anaïs
• Vézinet Virginie
• Tellier Marion
• Colé Pascale

keywords

• Vocabulary learning
• Iconic gestures
• Kindergarten children
• Embodied practices

document type

abstract

Because most studies designed to explore the impact of gestures on vocabulary learning were conducted with either L2 or artificial languages ((Aussems & Kita, 2021; Rosenthal-von der Pütten & Bergmann, 2020; Tellier, 2008), the present study addressed this question with L1 vocabulary acquisition in French children (5-6 years old) who were also asked to develop new concepts and not only new labels to be connected to the ones already acquired during L1 acquisition (see L2 studies). More precisely, the study focused on the following questions: 1) whether reproducing iconic gestures would be more effective in learning vocabulary than viewing pictures and 2) whether the effect of the learning method would depend on vocabulary type (action verb or noun). The children had to learn 20 new words of 2 types, nouns (for example the word “comprimé”,/ “pill” ) and action verbs ( “froisser” / to crumple) through 2 experimental conditions: 1) using a traditional teaching practice based on pictures and 2) seeing and reproducing iconic gestures. The target words to be learnt were presented through videos and learning sessions took place with groups of 3-4 children to reproduce the typical group dynamics of the classroom (in French kindergartens, children often work in small groups). Participants were tested on word retrieval, word production, word recognition and word meaning skills immediately after the training phase. Results showed that reproducing iconic gestures when learning new words was beneficial for word retrieval and word recognition skills. No difference emerged when word type was considered. Interestingly, for word meaning skills, the benefit of the method depended on the initial vocabulary level of the children assessed at the beginning of the study. Thus, gestural reproduction was more efficient in children with a high level of vocabulary, while viewing picture was more supportive in children with a low level of vocabulary. These results specify the contribution of the embodied cognition framework to teaching methods.

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