Gestures in the ELT Classroom

Abstract

This research entitled, 'Gestures in the ELT Classroom' aimed to identify the most frequently used gestures in ELT classroom and to find out the context in which they were used. Data was collected during 45 minutes classroom observation of the 20 secondary level English teachers and their students. Two classes of each teacher were observed. Checklists and diary were used as the tools for data collection. Non-random purposive sampling procedure was adopted to sample the sampling population. The findings of the study suggested that the secondary level English teachers use gestures in order to encourage the students and to draw students' attention to them. It was also found that teachers used gestures mostly in the cases when they were functionally active in the classroom. In some of the cases, gender difference was found among teachers while reacting to their students. This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one includes general background followed by verbal communication, non-verbal communication, gestures in second language classroom, importance of gestures in second language classroom etc. It also includes benefits of understating gestures and review of the related literature. The second chapter deals with the methodology of the study. Under methodology sources of data, sampling procedure, tools for data collection, process of data collection and limitations of the study are presented. The third chapter gives detailed description of the data obtained from the respondents along with the analysis and interpretation of the data. The fourth chapter incorporates findings and recommendations of the study followed by the suggestions for further researchers. The references and appendices are given at the end.