Graduate Program

Curriculum and Instruction

Degree Name

Master of Science in Education (MSEd)

Semester of Degree Completion

Summer 2026

Thesis Director

Amy Davis

Thesis Committee Member

Caridad F. Brito

Thesis Committee Member

Michael D. Gillespie

Abstract

This study highlighted the idea of incorporating gestures into vocabulary instruction to help the students recall and retain the new vocabulary words. The researcher predicted that with the incorporation of the strategy of gestures into instruction, kindergarten students will be able to retain more vocabulary words compared to vocabulary instruction that does not include gestures. A total of 22 students and one teacher from a rural town in central Illinois participated in the study. This study was a mixed methods study, which included quantitative data in the form of pretest and posttest and qualitative data in the form of a teacher interview. The comparison of the growth between pretests and posttests for each type of instruction was analyzed using standard deviation and a t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed using the Grounded Theory Method. The findings of the study revealed that there was no statistical significance between the two types of instruction, and that excitement and engagement was the core theme of the teacher interview.

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