A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Students' depictive gestures in CLIL classroom interaction : a manifestation of subject-specific knowledge (2024)


Kääntä, L., & Kasper, G. (2024). Students' depictive gestures in CLIL classroom interaction : a manifestation of subject-specific knowledge. In J. Hüttner, & C. Dalton-Puffer (Eds.), Building disciplinary literacies in content and language integrated learning (pp. 29-59). Routledge. Routledge series in language and content integrated teaching and plurilingual education. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403685-3


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editorsKääntä, Leila; Kasper, Gabriele

Parent publicationBuilding disciplinary literacies in content and language integrated learning

Parent publication editorsHüttner, Julia; Dalton-Puffer, Christiane

ISBN978-1-032-51729-2

eISBN978-1-003-40368-5

Journal or seriesRoutledge series in language and content integrated teaching and plurilingual education

Publication year2024

Publication date28/06/2024

Pages range29-59

Number of pages in the book240

PublisherRoutledge

Place of PublicationAbingdon, Oxon

Publication countryUnited Kingdom

Publication languageEnglish

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403685-3

Publication open accessNot open

Publication channel open access

Publication is parallel published (JYX)https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/99870


Abstract

This chapter approaches subject-specific literacy in the content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classroom as a situated, multimodal practice that entails detailing those multimodal resources, including language, use of gaze, gesture, body, and the spatio-material aspects of the classroom setting, participants employ to construct and negotiate subject-specific knowledge in interaction. Our focus ison the type and manner of depictive gestures students use as part of explanations and upshot formulations. The data come from a large corpus of video-recorded CLIL lessons taught in English in Finland from which we have identified students' depictive gestures during task activities and teachers' lectures to the whole class. Using multimodal conversation analysis, the findings show that students employ the same kinds of depictive gestures in the two environments, e.g., acting and drawing abstract motions, but in context-sensitive ways to visually bring forth meanings not expressed verbally. Instead of viewing students' depictive gestures as compensating for unavailable science register, the findings show that they form a constitutive part of students' understanding of subject-specific knowledge, i.e., their understanding is fundamentally embodied. This has consequences for how subject-specific literacy is viewed and how teachers assess students' contributions when they participate in classroom interaction.


Keywordscontent and language integrated learningcurriculum subjectsknow-howclass teachinglinguistic interactionnon-verbal languageconversation analysis

Free keywordsCLIL; subject-specific knowledge; classroom interaction; depictive gestures; conversation analysis


Contributing organizations


Ministry reportingYes

VIRTA submission year2024

Preliminary JUFO rating2


Last updated on 2025-08-02 at 20:06