IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AND BODY LANGUAGE


I conclude the semester with an activity focused on the role of gestures in communication. The primary objective is to raise students' awareness of the cultural specificity of gestures and their integral role in communicative practices. Despite their significance, gestures are seldom explicitly addressed in language classrooms; learners typically acquire the ability to interpret them through immersive experiences, such as living abroad or interacting with individuals from different cultural backgrounds.


For this activity, I have students work in pairs, using a list of French idiomatic expressions. They are first tasked with identifying the corresponding English equivalents for each expression. Subsequently, students are encouraged to reflect on whether a specific gesture exists that could embody each expression. Finally, students watch a series of short video clips and are asked to match the videos to the expressions on their list. This task helps students connect language to non-verbal communication and develop a more holistic understanding of intercultural communication.



We end with this video of French speakers trying to have American students guess what certain gestures express.