We often think of gestures as an afterthought or decoration—a flourish to help us express ourselves. But research suggests they’re more than that. They might actually help our listeners predict what we’re about to say.
The study
Researchers Marlijn ter Bekke, Linda Drijvers & Judith Holler (Radboud University) analysed spontaneous, face-to-face Dutch conversations between paired speakers. They coded over 700 gestures, distinguishing representational gestures (those depicting meaning, like showing a “round” shape or miming “writing”) from pragmatic ones.
They measured precisely when each gesture began in relation to the word it represented—its “lexical affiliate”—& examined how gesture timing related to how quickly the other person replied.
The findings
94% of gestures began before the related word, on average 644 milliseconds earlier, suggesting that gestures anticipate speech rather than simply accompany it. The meaningful “stroke” phase of gestures also started early—about 200 milliseconds before the word.
Importantly, questions accompanied by gestures received responses about 260 milliseconds faster than those without gestures, even after removing filler responses like “uh” or “well”. However, for non-question turns, gestures didn’t speed up replies, & how far ahead the gesture occurred didn’t significantly affect response time.
In short: our hands often get there first, providing clues that help listeners prepare their next move.
Context
The study builds on work by Stephen Levinson, Judith Hollerv & others on conversational prediction—how we plan responses before a speaker finishes. It also echoes neuroscience findings (e.g., Zhang et al., 2021) showing gestures reduce the brain’s effort to process unpredictable words. Gestures, it seems, aren’t add-ons; they’re part of the predictive machinery of conversation.
Think of someone describing a spiral staircase: their hand starts to circle before “spiral” is spoken. You’re already forming an image, anticipating what’s coming.
Teacher Takeaways?
Obviously, this research doesn’t have a clear relevance to classroom practice, but it could be interesting to play around with the topic.
- Have a go: after reviewing the study’s findings with the learners, encourage learners to consciously use gestures when speaking—it may scaffold fluency by helping both speaker & listener anticipate meaning.
- Explore: a lesson on gestures from different cultures is always fun. You could use a website such as this one.
- Silent speaking: as a ‘stealth’ detailed listening task, play a short dialogue & have pairs of students add the gestures as they listen.
Could gestures be the missing piece in helping learners respond more naturally in conversation?
Leave a Reply