초등영어 교수전략으로서의 제스처 분석

Gesture as a teaching strategy in the primary English class: Comparing English native teachers and Korean teachers

Teachers make use of both verbal and nonverbal language to facilitate learners’ comprehension. The verbal mode of teacher communication has been extensively examined, but the nonverbal mode has not received equal attention. In order to examine pedagogical values of teachers’ gestures in the primary English class, the present study analyzed 12 pairs of classes by two groups of teachers (English natives and Koreans) in terms of the class, type and function of the teachers’ gestures. The results showed that the native teachers made use of various types of gestures whereas the Korean teachers restricted themselves to a small sample of gestural types. The native teachers tended to gesture for communicative purposes whereas the Koreans did so for cognitive purposes: Korean teachers’ gestures functioned as ‘thinking hands’ rather than ‘helping hands,’ as shown by the large quantities of adaptors. This study suggests that teachers need to develop their ‘teacher gesture’ repertoires, which are very important communication resources in classroom teaching.