Our research member, Dr. Ingrid Vilà-Giménez, took part in a joint interview alongside Prof. Pilar Prieto (ICREA–Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Dr. Júlia Florit-Pons (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), which was published in El Periódico. The conversation focuses on the crucial role of oral language and multimodal communication — the integrated use of speech, gesture, and bodily expression — from early childhood onwards.

This interview highlights part of the ongoing collaborative research conducted by the GrEPG (Prosodic and Gestural Studies Group, UPF) and the Comparative Minds research group.

The main highlights include:

• Researchers call for a paradigm shift in language teaching, emphasizing that oral language should take a central—not secondary—role in the curriculum from the earliest educational stages.
• Orality is not a complement but the foundation upon which literacy and language learning are built. Voice, gesture, and bodily expression (i.e., multimodal communication) are essential components of language development.
• Scientific evidence shows that children benefit most from guided multimodal interaction with adults—that is, interaction combining speech, gestures, and bodily expression.
• Multimodal narrative interventions can foster language learning, linguistic confidence, integration, and academic success.
• The discussion highlights the importance of strengthening oral interaction in educational settings, especially in multilingual and newcomer contexts.
• Another key point raised by the researchers is the importance of ensuring that students are exposed to rich, natural, and expressive models of oral language through their teachers’ speech.

📎 Read the full interview here:

• Catalan version: El Periódico – “El reforç de l'oralitat des d'infantil millora la lectoescriptura i l'èxit escolar”

• Spanish version: El Periódico – “Reforzar la expresión oral desde infantil mejora la lectoescritura y el rendimiento académico"