Visibility of lip movements and gestures equally facilitates L2 listening comprehension
Abstract
This study investigates the effects of visual information—specifically gestures (Body) and lip movementslip movements (Face)—on second language (L2) listening comprehension. Seventy-three Japanese female university students completed six listening tasks varying in difficulty (Easy, Hard) and modality (Body, Face, Audio), using a within-subjects design. Each listening text was presented twice, and comprehension was assessed via multiple-choice questions. Results revealed that both Body and Face conditions significantly enhanced comprehension compared to Audio-only, but did not differ from each other. These findings suggest that the visibility of the speaker—whether full upper body or face—equally facilitates comprehension when the listening materials are not cognitively overwhelming. No interaction effects were observed between modality and either text difficultytext difficulty or listening attempt, indicating consistent benefits of visual input across conditions. Although participants strongly preferred Body over other modalities, no significant relationship was found between individual preferences and test performance. Considering the contrasting results with more difficult texts in Kamiya (2025), these results underscore the importance of matching input complexity with learners’ cognitive capacitycognitioncognitive capacity when incorporating visual information in L2 listening instruction. The study contributes to the growing literature on multimedia learning by emphasizing that visual aids are beneficial but not universally effective; their impact depends on learners’ available cognitive resources and task difficulty.
Abstract
This study investigates the effects of visual information—specifically gestures (Body) and lip movementslip movements (Face)—on second language (L2) listening comprehension. Seventy-three Japanese female university students completed six listening tasks varying in difficulty (Easy, Hard) and modality (Body, Face, Audio), using a within-subjects design. Each listening text was presented twice, and comprehension was assessed via multiple-choice questions. Results revealed that both Body and Face conditions significantly enhanced comprehension compared to Audio-only, but did not differ from each other. These findings suggest that the visibility of the speaker—whether full upper body or face—equally facilitates comprehension when the listening materials are not cognitively overwhelming. No interaction effects were observed between modality and either text difficultytext difficulty or listening attempt, indicating consistent benefits of visual input across conditions. Although participants strongly preferred Body over other modalities, no significant relationship was found between individual preferences and test performance. Considering the contrasting results with more difficult texts in Kamiya (2025), these results underscore the importance of matching input complexity with learners’ cognitive capacitycognitioncognitive capacity when incorporating visual information in L2 listening instruction. The study contributes to the growing literature on multimedia learning by emphasizing that visual aids are beneficial but not universally effective; their impact depends on learners’ available cognitive resources and task difficulty.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgment
- Contents VII
- Foreword 1
- Introduction: Gesture in second language learning and pedagogy 5
-
Part I: The impact of gestures on grammar learning
- Gestures and preposition learning: In, On, and At 23
- Playing with gestures and memory: Evidence of L2 grammatical morpheme learning in multilingual classrooms 45
- Explicit instruction and production of the English negative quantifier by learners of English 67
-
Part II: The impact of gestures in vocabulary, listening, and pronunciation instruction
- Word learning in a foreign language: Effects of gesture, iconicity and part of speech 89
- Observing versus producing gesture for the learning of L2 sounds: What gesture performance tells us 115
- Visibility of lip movements and gestures equally facilitates L2 listening comprehension 137
- From embodied storytelling to writing: Preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of multimodal narrative training in secondary L2 classrooms 159
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Part III: Gesture in naturalistic and multimodal L2 settings
- Baby signs function as transcoding buoys in L1/L2 interactions: Some lessons for early foreign language learning 185
- Languaging-gestures: Second language learning and pedagogy in elementary classrooms 209
- Exploring dialogic gestures in teaching and learning: A case study in English-medium instructional classrooms at Chinese universities 233
- “Quietness” or Multimodal embodied participation? The case of a multilingual language learner 259
- Gestures with negating particles: Resources for foreign language adult learners 285
-
Conclusion
- A concluding synthesis of the role of gesture in L2 acquisition and pedagogy 307
- About the authors
- Index 329
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgment
- Contents VII
- Foreword 1
- Introduction: Gesture in second language learning and pedagogy 5
-
Part I: The impact of gestures on grammar learning
- Gestures and preposition learning: In, On, and At 23
- Playing with gestures and memory: Evidence of L2 grammatical morpheme learning in multilingual classrooms 45
- Explicit instruction and production of the English negative quantifier by learners of English 67
-
Part II: The impact of gestures in vocabulary, listening, and pronunciation instruction
- Word learning in a foreign language: Effects of gesture, iconicity and part of speech 89
- Observing versus producing gesture for the learning of L2 sounds: What gesture performance tells us 115
- Visibility of lip movements and gestures equally facilitates L2 listening comprehension 137
- From embodied storytelling to writing: Preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of multimodal narrative training in secondary L2 classrooms 159
-
Part III: Gesture in naturalistic and multimodal L2 settings
- Baby signs function as transcoding buoys in L1/L2 interactions: Some lessons for early foreign language learning 185
- Languaging-gestures: Second language learning and pedagogy in elementary classrooms 209
- Exploring dialogic gestures in teaching and learning: A case study in English-medium instructional classrooms at Chinese universities 233
- “Quietness” or Multimodal embodied participation? The case of a multilingual language learner 259
- Gestures with negating particles: Resources for foreign language adult learners 285
-
Conclusion
- A concluding synthesis of the role of gesture in L2 acquisition and pedagogy 307
- About the authors
- Index 329
