Orchestration of talk and gestures for dialogic scaffolding: a case study of reading instruction / Orquestación del habla y los gestos para un andamiaje dialógico: un estudio de caso de la enseñanza de la lectura

Abstract

Scholars agree that talk and scaffolding are critical to students’ learning in reading instruction. However, while many studies have focused on the role of talk, few have studied the use of gestures as scaffolding strategies. This paper answers the following questions: (i) How does the use of gestures complement a teacher’s construction of scaffolding strategies? (ii) How can the use of talk and gestures achieve dialogic scaffolding? This observation research focuses on a case study of a secondary teacher. Participants’ semiotic mediation of talk and gestures was examined closely using an analytical approach, informed by theories of scaffolding and gesture. The findings show that teacher gestures were used as learning support while students used gestures to visually represent and demonstrate their understanding. Through this interplay between talk and gesture, effective meaning-making and understanding were achieved in reading instruction.