Kinesics in English Foreign Language Classrooms: The Role of Teachers' Gestures in Enhancing the Grammatical Proficiency of English Learners at the Intermediate Level Case Study: Narrative Tenses

Abstract

Abstract : In EFL classrooms, learners, due to their linguistic level, rely heavily on teachers' kinesic expressions and dynamic movements to understand the verbal message sent and to communicate. However, teachers usually focus on the verbal aspects of the language, while the nonverbal aspects of the language are overlooked, or teachers are not aware enough of the dominant role they play in enhancing EFL learning and facilitating EFL teaching. Language phones are arbitrary representations of meaning, while with gestures, the action and its meaning are correlated, so if EFL teachers are able to match a word to movement, abstract meanings become concrete for the learners (AIM Language Learning, 2010). This quantitative study investigates the role of kinesic expressions in the EFL classroom and deals with the use of gestures as a pedagogical tool for English language teaching. It investigates the direct and immediate effect of using gestures in English grammar classes on the grammatical proficiency of the students The subjects of this study were selected as second-intermediate female Saudi EFL students, who are considered to be at their primary level of learning English. The study developed a systematic implementation of gestures to teach eight grammar rules regarding narrative tenses: the past simple tense, the past continuous tense, and the past perfect tense to the experimental group, while the control group was taught the same grammar rules without the use of gestures. By adopting lesson-related grammar tests, the results reveal that the researcher's use of gestures in explaining English grammar rules generally enhanced students' grammar comprehension. Gestures used in grammar classes helped the students better understand the statements of the past simple tense, the past continuous tense, and the past perfect tense, and they had a positive effect on students' classroom interaction. The study also investigated the students' attitudes toward the researcher's use of gestures in grammar classes. By administering a questionnaire to the experimental group, the findings reveal that the students attributed positive attitudes toward the use of gestures in the classroom and that gestures have cognitive, affective, and behavioral functions in the EFL classroom.