The Teaching of Gestural Communication as a Didactic Tool to Address Social Inclusion

Abstract

This text is an accompanying reading for the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) curriculum produced under the IN-COMM GUIDE project (Erasmus+, 2022–2023). The text is for those teaching courses derived from the curriculum, which aims to enhance communicative skills through methods developed from 1) travel writing, 2) nonverbal communication and 3) movement. A complementary objective of the curriculum is to sensitize students towards inclusion. In this text points 2 and 4 are thematized, initially through a review of the specialized literature on gestures, sign languages and intercultural as well as nonverbal communication. Additionnally, classroom experiences carried out by the authors are described: students performed tasks in the absence of language, that led them to adopt collaborative strategies. In addition, a brief overview of the current situation in the research and teaching activities of the DGS (Deutsche Gebärdensprache) in Germany is presented. In the subsequent reflections, the projection of one's own experience towards the situation experienced daily by people with communication barriers due to sensory disabilities (e.g., deafness) or migratory contexts is made. This projection, critically reflected, provides an interesting starting point for understanding the individual role of each citizen in ensuring social inclusion.