Language as a cultural trigger: a study of pointing gestures in Bengali-English bilinguals

Although gesture research in bilingualism has predominantly focused on iconic and metaphoric gestures, pointing behaviors remain understudied. This study investigates whether Bengali-English bilinguals adjust pointing when switching languages, given the distinct pointing norms in these two linguistic contexts. Grounded in Cultural Frame Switching (CFS) theory, it examines whether language alone triggers measurable shifts in the frequency and form of pointing gestures. Thirty-one Bengali-English bilingual university students participated in two rounds of semi-structured interviews conducted in Bengali and English, with 1 month interval in-between. Video recordings were transcribed and coded for both manual and non-manual (head, lips, eyes) pointing gestures. Results showed that participants produced significantly more manual pointing in English than in Bengali (p < 0.05), while non-manual pointing was significantly more frequent in Bengali than in English (p < 0.05). These findings provide quantitative evidence that language functions as a cultural prime, recalibrating embodied behavior: English activates a low-context frame demanding explicit reference, whereas Bengali activates a high-context frame emphasizing politeness and indirectness. By demonstrating how bilinguals switch gestural strategies in response to linguistic cues, this study advances CFS theory and contributes to a deeper understanding of the embodied nature of human cognition. It also offers practical implications for intercultural communication training and AI gesture recognition systems.