TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of pointing gestures and eye gaze in second language vocabulary learning
AU - Janjić, Paula
AU - Arikan, Gozdem
AU - Gudde, Harmen B.
AU - Murphy, Joseph J. C.
AU - Sivaram, Laksha
AU - Coventry, Kenny R.
N1 - Data availability statement: All data files and stimuli for the experiments reported in this study will be made publicly available at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/q5uzw/).
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions grant agreement No 857897.
PY - 2024/5/8
Y1 - 2024/5/8
N2 - Learning a second language is recognized as a necessity for social, political, and economic development. However, the processes contributing to initial vocabulary learning have not been explicated. In a series of experiments, this study examines the role of deictic gestures and gaze in second language vocabulary learning. Such cues have been shown to be fundamental in first language learning, but their efficacy in second language learning has not been established. In three experiments 435 participants learned pseudowords by watching images of a teacher naming objects placed on a table while systematically manipulating pointing and gaze. Moreover, manipulating the position of the object relative to the teacher (within or out of reach) served to establish the possible importance of these cues as social versus attentional constructs in second language vocabulary learning. Results show that gaze and gesture did not affect vocabulary learning, but object position did. We discuss implications of these results for theories of first language and second language vocabulary learning.
AB - Learning a second language is recognized as a necessity for social, political, and economic development. However, the processes contributing to initial vocabulary learning have not been explicated. In a series of experiments, this study examines the role of deictic gestures and gaze in second language vocabulary learning. Such cues have been shown to be fundamental in first language learning, but their efficacy in second language learning has not been established. In three experiments 435 participants learned pseudowords by watching images of a teacher naming objects placed on a table while systematically manipulating pointing and gaze. Moreover, manipulating the position of the object relative to the teacher (within or out of reach) served to establish the possible importance of these cues as social versus attentional constructs in second language vocabulary learning. Results show that gaze and gesture did not affect vocabulary learning, but object position did. We discuss implications of these results for theories of first language and second language vocabulary learning.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192517563&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0163853X.2024.2343625
DO - 10.1080/0163853X.2024.2343625
M3 - Article
JO - Discourse Processes
JF - Discourse Processes
SN - 0163-853X
ER -