Abstract: Gesture is an important nonverbal medium in the process of language communication, which is not only closely related to the interaction of language, but also has different cognitive characteristics of communication. The key points are summarized as follows: the relationship between gestures and language communication, the relatively independent communication features of gestures, and the characteristics of gesture communication in educational situations. This paper puts forward: Firstly, the joint expression of gestures and language promotes language occurrence and semantic understanding, integration and memory; Secondly, gestures have a certain degree of independent communication, and mismatches between gestures and language reflect changes in the communicative information and communicative cognition; Finally, in the context of education, teachers’ gesture expressions can guide students’ attention and clarify language information. Students’ gesture communication can help to promote the cognitive process of learning. Future studies are needed to furtherly explore: impact of gesture on language communication function; the characteristics and advantages of the cognitive mechanism of gesture communication in language communication; cognitive mechanism of gesture communication efficiency in education environment; influencing factors, general characteristics and individual differences of gesture communication.

Key words: communication, gesture, cognition