Visual Images
and a System of Gestures
Visual images and a system of gestures present a new approach in foreign language
teaching techniques because of their psychological effect. It is a very good way to teach
and learn because it involves both sides of the brain, motivates speech, and provides a
variety of speech patterns.
In foreign language teaching techniques we can observe that visual
images and a system of gestures presents a new approach because of their psychological
dimension.
Firstly, children, like adults, possess different cognitive capacities
based on the dominant side of their brain. Secondly, a child’s mind is more visual and
an adult’s mind is more analytical. That is why a teacher should appeal to the way the
child is thinking.
And, thirdly, it is known, the more links are made in the mind – the
more effective the learning is.
As for the images they look unusual but their elements are quite common
and easy to understand: They include 3-5-7 words – the best set for memory. And as a
symbol the image conveys the information (verb tenses in this case).
As far as a system of gestures is concerned, it provides different
activities. First of all it involves the learner in analyzing and synthesizing the
structure of the statements, which is a necessary step in the process of thinking. What is
more, a system of gestures allows us to avoid Russian or any other mother tongue
translation at this stage. Gestures not only motivate the students to speak, but also
allow us to organize activities at a good rate with a broad variation of elements in
speech patterns.
This approach seems to change the atmosphere of foreign language
classes as well as develop creative abilities in students and teachers, and makes the
process of learning more effective because it becomes active and meaningful.
Nowadays we can take the next step into foreign language teaching
techniques and change our attitude to this process. Firstly, it comes from the way people
think (the brain thinks in images). Secondly, different people have different dominant
sides of the brain (left or right), and that is why their cognitive capacities are
different. And, thirdly, attaching a physical gesture to a word can accelerate and deepen
learning because it involves both sides of the brain in the activity.
Utilizing visual images and a system of gestures in teaching English
grammar (and reading as well) is a very effective way to learn because it involves both
sides of the brain, motivates speech, and provides a variety of speech patterns. This
process is focused on thinking, and it develops creative abilities. What is more, the
atmosphere in the classroom is warm and friendly. Learning through fun – this is our
motto. Now let’s see how to organize this process step by step.
The first thing I do is get students acquainted with pronouns through
gestures. I put a hand to my heart and pronounce “I”, point to a girl – “she”,
boy – “he”, show a circle moving with my hand – “we”, show my thumb backwards
– “they”, two hands together forward – “you”, stamp my foot – “it”. We
train everything in the following way: T–C, S–T, T–S, S–S.
The next thing is my presentation of the verb “BE”. I tell them a
story about a dragon whose last name is BE, but who has five heads and each one has its
own name. Three heads look in one direction – “AM”, “IS”, “ARE” (Present
Simple), and two in the other direction – “WAS”, “WERE” (Past Simple). I support
these names with the following gestures: AM like OK, IS – show one finger, ARE – show
two fingers. As for WAS and WERE – I do the same as IS and ARE, but turn left or right.
This turn means Past in all cases we are going to go through. I tell them that each
pronoun has its own friend – I AM, YOU ARE, HE IS...
Then they are ready to make their own statements now because they have
been taught some adjectives already – big – small, weak – strong,
beautiful – ugly, clever – silly, they have learned the
numerals and can talk about age. So we have many things to talk about both in gestures and
speech. And it involves both sides of the brain, and there are more links and it gives us
a deeper knowledge. The next step is making questions. I tell them that the pronouns want
to ride the dragon and he bends his knees to help them to climb up his knee. That is why
we change the intonation and the word order – ARE WE, IS HE... When I introduce them to
negative statements I show it as crossed arms. So if any student is struggling over what
to say the others can show him and help.
As far as Present Progressive is concerned, I tell my students that the
dragon is going to catch fish by moonlight. Moonlight means the -ing ending. By
that time learners have already learned many verbs, and can show them in gestures: swim,
sleep, eat, write, run... and many others. When they become quite familiar with the
structure BE+ Ving, we start training the negative pattern and different kinds of
questions. I usually introduce the Past and Present to them together.
Speaking of the Present and Past Simple it is necessary to point out
the common mistakes the students make, and to prevent them from using the wrong forms. The
first thing is the skipping of the auxiliary verb in positive sentences. That is why the
students have different kinds of mistakes especially in the Past. When they support their
speech with gestures, understanding comes quicker, and then the skill develops faster. We
use the symbol of a parachute to emphasize that it is not used in all sentences, and that
it keeps the information of the tense. As for the gestures we act as if we are making a
snowball: using both hands – DO, one hand – DOES, or we turn and show it with both
hands – DID. To prevent the learners from missing the -s ending in the Present
Simple, I show them a picture of a cat, because we can use all pronouns – she, he, it
– talking about a pet. That is why I use this image.
To help them to understand the Perfect, I created the image of three
balloons and a pot. As you can see the balloons have just been pierced (they show the
meaning of the aspect), and as for the pot, it shows that the potato inside has already
been boiled, so it differs from the raw vegetable. We drill three forms of irregular verbs
through gestures, it is an amazing kind of work, and students become familiar with them.
Showing HAVE we put both hands in our pockets, HAS – one hand in our pocket, HAD – we
turn and put both hands in our pocket.
Presenting to them the Passive Voice I show a picture of the sun and a
cloud. I use this image to emphasize the necessary changes they should make. I associate
the sun with the subject and the cloud with the object. We see when object becomes a
subject, we should change the form of the verb as well – BE V3. The students and you
have already been familiar how to show it in gestures.
I present new grammar material through these visual images because it
seems quite natural for the brain to accept new information this way. As for my practice
visual images are used in two stages: presentation of new grammar material and its
revision.
By Elena Gurina,
TEA alumni 2002, Izhevsk
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