Manual gestures to facilitate phonological learning in foreign language

  Members

Claudio BROZZOLI , Melanie CANAULT , Jennifer KRZONOWSKI , Veronique BOULENGER , Alice Catherine ROY

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Scientific framework and objectives

Theories of embodied cognition have led to a new approach to the brain-language relationship. Our linguistic representations, whether phonological or semantic, are supported by and benefit from the richness of our sensorimotor experiences (Boulenger et al., 2006, 2009; Hauk et al., 2004; Roy et al., 2008). Despite the preponderance of multilingualism throughout the world, the question of learning a foreign language has been little studied from the perspective of embodied cognition. The aim of this project is to examine the potential of manual gestures in the learning of foreign language phonemes. We will determine whether manual gestures reflecting the articulatory mode/location of these phonemes are effective allies for their identification and production in adult learners.

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  Financial support

• Appel à Projets Pluridisciplinaires Interne (APPI)
  Embodied cognition in second language processing: an fMRI study
  Université Lyon 2
• ANR Projet de Recherche Collaborative
  AnchorFL: Anchoring Foreign Language Learning
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche
• Labex,Aslan

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  Publications

• Tseng, T., Krzonowski, J., Roy, A., Brozzoli, C., Boulenger, V., 2024, "Beyond speech production: sensorimotor contribution to native and non-native phoneme perception", 13th International Seminar on Speech Production (ISSP 2024), Autrans, France, May 13-17, 2024