ERIC Number: EJ1468341
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4308
EISSN: EISSN-1098-2736
Available Date: 2024-10-29
Toward a System of Gesture-Speech Relations in Elementary Science Teaching
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v62 n5 p1298-1318 2025
Although previous research provides insights into how gestures function as a pedagogical tool, relatively little is known about how gesture is related to language, together creating a key meaning-making teaching resource. Drawing on the system of logico-semantic relations in Systemic Functional Linguistic theory and McNeill's description of gestures, this study examines how gesture is logically and semantically related to the language teachers use in elementary science classrooms. The study is primarily qualitative in nature and uses video recordings as the primary data. The main purpose is to analyze the kind of gesture-speech relations used by elementary science teachers and to develop a system network that describes gesture-speech relations in elementary science teaching. Distribution of the gesture-speech relations shows that some relations are more likely used to teach scientific knowledge, some are more likely used for classroom management, and some are used for both.
Descriptors: Elementary School Science, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Speech Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Interaction, Classroom Techniques
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Department of English, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Shanghai, China; 2Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; 3Department of English, School of International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China