More Than Words: An Integrated Framework for Exploring Gestures’ Role in Bilinguals’ Use of Two Languages for Making Mathematical Meaning

Abstract Gestures play a role in perception, production, and comprehension of language have been shown to differ cross-linguistically cross-culturally aspects performance form-meaning relationships. Furthermore, gestures can serve as analytical tools access tacit embodied-imagistic mathematical meanings that add verbal-linguistic dimensions meaning. At the same time, plays important roles interaction cognition, influencing bilinguals’ learning mathematics. Still, there is only very little research attending use multilinguals means better understand relationships between their thinking. This paper builds on multilingualism gestures—related unrelated mathematics education—to motivate develop framework for understanding thinking through integrating gesture analysis related languages, culture, registers. The application this will be illustrated two case studies which we analyse interview data bilingual student teacher—focusing while talking about concept ‘power’—or exponents—in Farsi (Persian) English. From analyzing gestures’ relations functions hybrid practices, hypothesize vernacular context activated both speech how it relates this, draw practical implications multilingual contexts discuss multilinguals’ learning.