Learning English Auxiliary Modal Verbs by Iranian Children

Modal verbs in English are challenging to learn by speakers of other languages. The purpose of thiswas to shed light on the use of gesture in learning English modal verbs by Persian-speaking children.To achieve this, 60 elementary Iranian learners, studying at some institutes in Karaj took part in thisstudy. The participants were randomly put into one experimental group and one control group. Theexperimental group were taught English modal verbs through gesture, but the control group throughtheir books based on pictures. Data were analyzed through a t-test to test the hypotheses raised in thestudy. The results highlight the value of gesture in teaching modal verbs to Persian-speaking children.Moreover, to investigate whether or not there were any significant relationships between spatial andkinesthetic intelligences and the ability to learn modal verbs, a Pearson correlation procedure was used.The result supported the significant relationships between spatial/ kinesthetic intelligences and learners’performance in learning English modal verbs.