Chinese international students’ multicultural identity and second language development: gesture awareness and use

Abstract

This study examines language in conjunction with co-speech gesture awareness and use in relation to second language development, and as linked to identity-in-the-making for four Chinese international graduate students attending an American university in the U.S. Data collection took place at two different times: after three months of initial exposure and then again three years later. Participants were interviewed about their language and gesture awareness and use in the L1 and L2, and in relation to possible changes in identity over time. Additionally, participants were video-recorded while retelling a story that included motion events in their L1 and L2 at both times of data collection for possible changes in thinking-for-speaking. Findings are related to four areas: speech-gesture synchrony; language, gesture, culture and emotions; gesture awareness and use; and bonding with others. Overall, this study offers a window onto the role of co-speech gesture in relation to second language development as found in the contexts of naturalistic exposure, where agency plays a significant role in identity development, differing for individuals in accordance with how a person experiences an event or environment (perezhivanie).

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2020.1767118.

Keywords:

• Gesture
• perezhivanie
• agency
• thinking-for-speaking

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from China Scholarship Council for the first author. We appreciate the efforts of the participants who were involved in the project. We also thank Christie Higgins for her help in the initial stage of the project and Liang Qiu for his encouragement and suggestion in the writing process. We also thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lixian Tian

Lixian Tian is a PhD in the Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research interest includes motivation and gesture studies in second and foreign language development from a sociocultural perspective. She is also interested in argumentation and critical thinking, especially critical discussions in small groups and conceptual change in science education.

Steven G. McCafferty

Steven G. McCafferty is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research includes a major focus on how gesture plays a part in second language development from a sociocultural perspective. The Editorial Board for the new journal, Language and Sociocultural Theory, and is a consultant on ELL education for Clark County Schools and other state and local entities.