Hand gestures linked to better speaking
Can’t find the right word? You might want to start moving your hands. New research at the University of Alberta suggests that gesturing while you talk may improve your access to language.
Dr. Elena Nicoladis and her research colleagues observed the hand gestures of bilingual children as they told the same story twice, first in one language and then the other. The researchers were surprised by what they saw.
“The children used gestures a lot more when telling the story in what they considered to be their stronger language,” said Nicoladis, a psychologist at the U of A. “These results seemed counter-intuitive to us. We thought the children would be more inclined to use gestures to help them communicate in their weaker language.”
Based on these results and the results of earlier studies, Nicoladis believes there is a connection between language and memory access and gesturing.
(5 votes, average: 3.8 out of 5)
Loading ...You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Join the Conversation! Post a Comment:
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 10 May 2005
