Seminar I Cognitive and Emotional Functions of Co-speech Gestures in Learning and Using a Foreign Language
Seminars / Lectures / Workshops
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Date
24 Oct 2024
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Organiser
Department of English and Communication
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Time
19:30 - 20:30
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Venue
Online via Zoom
Speaker
Professor Spencer Kelly
Remarks
This event is jointly organised with the International Society for Gestures Studies - Hong Kong
Summary
Over the past two decades, research on the role of hand gestures in second language (L2) learning has flourished. In this talk, Prof. Kelly will revisit an important, yet often overlooked, aspect of gesture in L2 learning: its affective function. Through three studies, Prof. Kelly will demonstrate that hand gestures not only influence L2 speech production and perception but also enhance learners’ motivation, enjoyment, and sense of competence. Interestingly, there is often a disassociation between the actual impact of gestures on L2 utterances and how much speakers, listeners, and learners feel that gestures have helped. This distinction has practical implications for the L2 classroom and supports a "whole learner" approach to language instruction.
Keynote Speaker
Professor Spencer Kelly
Hurley Family Chair of Psychology and Neuroscience, Colgate University, USA
Prof. Spencer Kelly is the co-director of Colgate's Center for Language and Brain (CLB) which focuses on, among other things, issues involved in foreign language instruction and learning. Prof. Kelly's research on the relationship between speech and gesture spans social, psychological, and neural levels. On the social and psychological levels, he uses behavioral methods to demonstrate that gestures influence how children and adults comprehend language in different social contexts, and how they think during the explanation of difficult concepts. On the neural level, he uses event-related potentials (ERPs) to show that gestures influence speech at multiple stages of language comprehension.
