Effective strategies for language instruction | Function | Examples |
verb or adverb plus body parts (Jakubowska, 2017) | pay attention to body parts and correct movements | bend your knees, stretch your arms, relax your shoulders, fasten your forearms, and head up |
directions or spatial locations | know the direction and position of the action | lower the center of gravity; swing from the bottom right to the top left; step forward 45 degrees to the left |
action verb | know the way to act | “cut” the lower part of the ball forward to the bottom; increase the jitter of the wrist; rub the sides of the ball |
metaphors and analogies (Ma, 2008) | inspire students to imagine movement patterns or understand movement senses | imagine yourself tall in gymnastic exercises to inspire stretch and erect feeling; bow back like a kitten |
changes in intonation or specific stress | emphasize points of action, such as the role of specific parts of the body, important timing, or letting students notice mistakes | “Wave your arms up!” “Slow down!” “Stop! See if your center of gravity is on your left leg?” |
repeated words | give feedback, adjust and enhance movement details | “Yes, yes, hurry up” “Relax, relax” |
onomatopoeia | describe the rhythm of movement or have students remember the right voice | the rhythm of high jump run, “da-da-da” the sound of rubbing the ball, “ca-ca” |