Evolution is an arc along a timeline. Metaphors embodied in teachers’ gesture support abstract conceptualization and academic lexicon acquisition at primary school

Growing evidence shows the role of teachers gestures not only in L2 learning (Stam & Tellier, 2021) but also in supporting learning in the L1 classroom (Martha W. Alibali et al., 2014; Crowder, 1996; Wilson, Boatright, & Landon-Hays, 2014). The current study aims at contributing to this last perspective. Based on data from a 3rd grade plurilingual classroom in an Italian school, it observes the ‘catchments’ (McNeill, 2000) in teacher’s gesticulation during a cycle of lessons on “The origin of life“. The analysis identifies conceptual components based on the TIME IS SPACE metaphor associated with gestures, and observes their alignment with lexical items – either technical or common words (evolution, ages, ancestors, archaic; change, back, old) – in speech. The gesture-word association supports both the conceptualization of the notions and the acquisition of the related lexicon: gestures connect recurring concepts to their different verbalisations, ensuring a conceptually coherent representation over the lesson; they establish synonimic relations between technical and common words; and they can also work as memory triggers towards and between concepts and lexical units.