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Hand tied and tongue tied
At this year's Developmental Section Annual Conference, Dr Karen
Pine of the University of Hertfordshire, presented research which found
that children's gestures help them to think, speak and learn.
Daily Mail
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Teachers could be hampering youngsters' development by making them sit on their hands to keep still in class, a study reveals.
Restricting gestures and movements impairs their speech and learning, according to research from Hertfordshire University.
This contradicts the view that chidlren should be encouraged to sit still to help their concentration.
Dr Karen Pine, reader in educational psychology at Hertfordshire University, studied 300 children aged five to seven.
In one study, about 120 were shown 50 pictures of easily
recogniseable objects such as parachutes, scarecrows and kangaroos.
They were then asked to name the items. Dr Pine found that when
youngsters were not allowed to gesture as they named pictures, they
found it harder to come up with the right words.
Another study involving 103 children found that when their hands
were restricted while they were asked to explain something in detail.
their speech contained more pauses, backtracks and hesitations.
Dr Pine said: 'Gesture is incredibly important in children for
producing fluent language, finding the right word and the ability to
understand concepts.'
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