Developing Intonation Through Gestures in Early English Language Teaching

Abstract

Existing research has proved the strong link between gestures and speech both in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) acquisition. Despite the significant benefits of incorporating gestures into language instruction, there remains a gap in research concerning their impact on very young learners, especially in non-Western settings like Vietnam. The current study investigates the effects of using gestures to teach English intonation to very young learners. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design, and it recruited 49 participants aged 4 to 6 years at a language center. The two intact classes were randomly assigned as the control and experimental groups. The learners in the experimental group were taught intonation patterns of some English sentence types, such as YES/NO questions, WH questions, and statements through gestures, while traditional instructions without any gestures were applied in the control group. Two primary tools were utilized for data collection: intonation tests and observations. The findings demonstrated that learners who received gesture-based teaching significantly showed improvements in their intonation. Additionally, these learners showed more engagement and active participation in class. These results highlight the benefits of using gestures in teaching English intonation, especially in early English language teaching in Vietnam.