Bilinguals Gesture More When Explaining Metaphors In L1 Than L2, Especially for Verb-Based Metaphors

Barcelona, Spain · May 2026

Posters · Language in Mind: Speech, Reading & Communication

Dila Falay
University of Warwick
Aylin Küntay
Koc University
Tilbe Goksun
Koc University

Abstract

We examined how bilinguals gesture when constructing explanations for novel metaphors. Forty-one participants (29 females, M_age=21.3) explained verb- and noun-based metaphors (and matched literal sentences) in L1(Turkish) and L2(English). They gestured more frequently in L1, used more representational gestures for verb-based sentences, and more beat gestures for sentences with metaphors.

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Bilinguals Gesture More When Explaining Metaphors In L1 Than L2, Especially for Verb-Based Metaphors

Abstract

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