Verb Action
Verb Action is a vocabulary strategy in which students learn and remember verbs by performing a gesture or whole-body movement that enacts the verb's meaning (for example, jumping for "jump," a stirring motion for "mix," a pouring motion for "pour"). It draws on Total Physical Response (TPR), in which learners respond to spoken commands with action before they are asked to speak, and on embodied-cognition research showing that pairing a word with a matching self-performed gesture adds a motor trace that can produce stronger, longer-lasting memory than hearing or seeing the word alone. Because verbs name actions, they are especially well suited to being shown with the body, which makes unfamiliar action words concrete and observable. The strategy builds receptive understanding first and then becomes a springboard into oral production as students name the action they and their classmates are performing.
How it’s typically applied
- 1Choose a small, coherent set of high-utility verbs from the current text or content, typically 5 to 8 at a time. Keeping the set small and choosing gestures that are not easily confused with one another matters: gesture-supported vocabulary learning is strongest when only a few non-confusable items are introduced at once (Huang et al., 2019).
- 2Model each verb by saying it clearly in a meaningful sentence while performing a consistent, iconic gesture that visibly matches its meaning. Use the same gesture every time so it becomes a reliable memory cue.
- 3Lead a receptive (listening-only) round: give the verb as a command ("Stir." "Compare.") and have all students respond with the action, with no speaking required, so meaning is confirmed through the body before output is expected.
- 4Gradually vary the order, speed, and combinations of commands so students process the word rather than copy a fixed sequence, and add content context ("Measure the water," "Compare the two leaves").
- 5Invite student production by having learners name the action as they or a partner perform it, moving from one-word labels to phrases to full sentences as readiness allows.
- 6Link each gesture to print and across domains by pairing it with a labeled picture or word card and a sentence frame, so the kinesthetic cue connects to the written form and supports reading and writing.
- 7Recycle the gestures across the week and into new contexts, and invite students to teach or invent gestures, building ownership and spaced retrieval that strengthen long-term retention.
Why it works for emergent bilingual students
Verb Action lets emergent bilingual students participate and show what they know from day one: meaning is carried by the gesture and the body, so students can demonstrate comprehension before they are ready to speak, which honors the natural pre-production or silent period rather than forcing premature output (Krashen & Terrell, 1983; Asher, 1969). Pairing a word with a self-performed gesture adds a motor trace to the visual and auditory input, and multiple studies show this enactment produces stronger and longer-lasting vocabulary memory than hearing or seeing the word alone, including for young second-language learners (Macedonia & Klimesch, 2014; Tellier, 2008; Huang et al., 2019). The strategy is asset-based: it treats movement, gesture, and the body as resources every learner already brings, and students can draw on action knowledge built in their home language, since conceptual understanding developed in one language supports learning the corresponding label in another (Cummins, 2000). Because TPR-style action is low-anxiety and game-like, it lowers the affective filter and builds the confidence and comprehensible-input base from which speaking naturally emerges (Krashen & Terrell, 1983).
Adapting it across proficiency levels
Pre-Production
Students respond physically only, with no required speech. The teacher gives the verb as a command and the student shows understanding by performing the gesture or movement (point, act out, follow the action). This validates comprehension and lets the student participate fully and successfully on day one without producing language.
Beginning
Students perform the gesture and begin to attach the word, producing the verb as a one-word label or short chunk ("jump," "mix it") as they or a peer do the action. The teacher supplies the word, a picture, and a model, accepts approximations, and uses yes/no or either/or prompts ("Are you stirring or pouring?").
Intermediate
Students name the action in short phrases and simple sentences using sentence frames ("I am measuring the water," "She mixes the colors"). They match verbs to gestures for a larger set, describe what a classmate is doing, and begin using the verbs in present and simple past with teacher support.
High Intermediate / Advanced
At the High Intermediate and Advanced levels of the 2026 ELPS, students use the verbs flexibly and precisely in extended speech, explaining a multi-step process or narrating a sequence ("First we observe, then we record, then we compare the results"). Gestures fade as a scaffold and are used selectively to clarify nuance or distinguish near-synonyms. Students may invent or teach gestures, justify word choice, and apply the verbs to new academic contexts independently.
In the classroom
In a 3rd-grade science lesson on the steps of an investigation, the teacher introduces six process verbs: observe, predict, measure, mix, record, and compare. For each, she says the verb in a sentence and performs a consistent gesture (cupped hands at the eyes for "observe," a stirring motion for "mix," hands moving apart then together for "compare"). The class does a listening-only round, responding with the gestures to her commands in mixed order. Pre-Production students participate by performing the actions, Beginning students call out the verb as they move ("mix!"), Intermediate students narrate with a frame ("We measure the water"), and High Intermediate and Advanced students sequence the full procedure aloud ("First we observe the plants, then we record what we see, and finally we compare the two groups"). The same gestures and word cards reappear when students later write up the investigation, linking the kinesthetic cue to reading and writing.
Research basis
Total Physical Response builds second-language learning by having learners respond to spoken commands (especially imperative verbs) with physical action before speaking, paralleling first-language acquisition and lowering learner stress.
Asher, J. J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 53(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1969.tb04552.x [link]
TPR organizes language learning around the verb in the imperative, with learners internalizing vocabulary and structure through whole-body actions in a low-stress setting.
Asher, J. J. (2009). Learning another language through actions (7th ed.). Sky Oaks Productions.
Accompanying foreign-language words with self-performed symbolic gestures significantly enhances vocabulary learning in quantity and over time compared to audio-visual learning alone, with effects measured in the classroom over an extended period.
Macedonia, M., & Klimesch, W. (2014). Long-term effects of gestures on memory for foreign language words trained in the classroom. Mind, Brain, and Education, 8(2), 74-88. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12047 [link]
When young children reproduce gestures while learning second-language words, the added motor modality leaves a richer memory trace and significantly improves their ability to actively produce, not just understand, the vocabulary.
Tellier, M. (2008). The effect of gestures on second language memorisation by young children. Gesture, 8(2), 219-235. https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.8.2.06tel [link]
A within-participant study found that gestures aided L2 vocabulary learning consistent with dual coding theory, with benefits when gestures were not confusable with other to-be-learned words and the number of words presented at once was limited.
Huang, X., Kim, N., & Christianson, K. (2019). Gesture and vocabulary learning in a second language. Language Learning, 69(1), 177-197. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12326 [link]
Iconic gestures performed during encoding enhance memory for foreign-language words and engage premotor and motor brain regions, supporting an embodied basis for vocabulary learning.
Macedonia, M., Müller, K., & Friederici, A. D. (2011). The impact of iconic gestures on foreign language word learning and its neural substrate. Human Brain Mapping, 32(6), 982-998. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21084 [link]
Learners pass through a pre-production (silent) stage in which comprehension develops ahead of speech; comprehensible input and TPR-style activities let understanding be demonstrated before output is required, and speaking emerges naturally.
Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Pergamon Press.
Conceptual and academic knowledge developed in one language, including understanding of actions and processes, transfers and supports acquisition of the corresponding labels in a second language (common underlying proficiency).
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Multilingual Matters.
Verb Action is a named, field-tested instructional strategy (Strategy 19, "Verb Action: Teaching Irregular Verbs through Experience") in which students learn target verbs by performing an action tied to each verb and then use and record it. The named strategy and its experience-based approach to teaching verbs originate with Herrell and Jordan; this entry extends the same action-based principle to verb vocabulary more broadly, supported by the embodied-cognition research cited alongside.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. L. (2020). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (6th ed.). Pearson. [link]
Sources reviewed by an independent second-language-acquisition specialist and an adversarial citation audit.
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