Tuning in to Gestures
Gesture gets its power in part from the fact that it is seldom noticed by the speaker or listener yet is easily understood and included in our conversations. The challenge is to use it to good effect.
Gesture more when you speak. It will help you learn and understand, and also think in a more abstract way. If you gesture while talking, you will remember more of what you have said. Do it while you are multitasking and it will lighten your mental load. What's more, when you gesture, the people around you tend to do so too.
Encourage gestures in your children, students and anyone else you are trying to teach. This will help them understand the material you are conveying. That is important because being able to generalise what we learn is essential to acquiring new knowledge.
Pay attention to other people's gestures. These offer a window into the thoughts that speakers have but don't express in their words. These thoughts are often at the cutting-edge of their knowledge or address issues that are uppermost in their minds. Noticing and responding to such gestures will improve your interactions at home and at work.
Observe the gesturing of infants (婴儿). While learning to talk, children typically convey sentence-like meanings in a combination of gesture and speech before using words alone. If a child fails to produce these gesture-word combinations, it may be a sign that their spoken language development will be delayed, allowing you to intervene and help.
A. For example, they usually point at a box and say "open". B. You should be mindful of the potential impact of gestures. C. Make fake gestures on certain occasions if necessary. D. Here are some tips that can help you take advantage of gestures. E. This can give you a way of seeing what others are thinking but not saying. F. Gesturing while learning will also help them solve the same problem in a new way. |
