Download Nonverbal Research

1
Non-verbal language
An Access for Better Teaching-Learning Process
Presented by
M. I. Tillawi
We speak with our vocal organs, but we converse with our entire bodies.
Conversation consists of much more than a simple interchange of spoken words.
2
Non-verbal language
I- Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………………………….………..1
II- Research Questions …………………………………………………………………………...……….…………..1
III-Research Objectives…………………………….…………………………………………………….…………..1
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….………………………………………..……..2-3
2. Types Of Non-verbal Features
2.1 Facial expressions and eye movement ……………………………………………….…………..3
2.2 Body gestures…………………………………………………………………….……………………………………..3-4
2.3 Body posture…………………………………………………………………….……………………………………..……..4
2.4 Distance…………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………….……..4
2.5 Orientation…………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………..4
2.6 Pause…………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………...………..4-5
3. Non-verbal Features and Classroom Teaching……………………………….………..5-6
3.1 Importance of non-verbal features in classroom……………………….…………..6-7
3.2 Functions of some non-verbal communication………………………….…………….. 7
3.3 Techniques for teaching non-verbals……………………………………………………..…….…..8
3.4 The effective assisting role of non-verbals……………………………………………….8-9
4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………….. 10
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………….………………………………………..………11
Web Resources……...……………………………………………………….………………………………………..………11
3
Non-verbal language
I- Literature Review:
I
t is almost clear and remarkable that so many researches, books, and
papers have tackled non-verbal features in details or in general .
Moreover, books have been mainly dedicated to the study of these
features as being a language on its own. Non-verbal features and body
language have received a great deal of attention and consideration (Axtell
1991, Fast 1970, Quilliam 2004, Andersen 2004, Pease 1984, Ribbens &
Thompson 2000). Anyhow, the study of all these features, regarding the
role they contribute to speech simplification, is important and needed as
well.
II-Research Questions:
The research in hand will try to answer the following questions:
1. How can non-verbal features contribute to a simple and better use
and understanding of speech?
2. Are such non-verbal features important to the extent that, when
neglected, they may cause misconception or misjudgment?
3. How can non-verbal features comprise a significant and
indispensable part of human everyday communication?
4. Is it advisable for L2 learners to learn and use such non-verbal
features?
III-Research Objectives:
The reader of this research should be able at the end to:
1. recognize non-verbal features of communication and have a better
understanding of the role they play in conveying meaning.
2. speak English with greater confidence in a range of informal and
more formal situations.
3. use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways
4
Non-verbal language
1. Introduction
Communication, in general, is the successful process of transmitting
information from one domain to one or more domains usually via a
common and specific medium. It is the process of exchanging information,
emotions and ideas through an effective system of symbols, signs,
behaviours, speech, writing, etc. There are so many means of
communication; speech and language is only a portion of them. Other
aspects of communication may enhance or even eclipse the linguistic
code. These aspects basically include the non-verbal features (facial
expressions, body language, gestures, etc.).
Several investigators estimate that at least 70% of the
communication between people takes place through body language and
tone of voice. The best known theory is that of the American psychologist
Mehrabian Who states that when it comes to expressing feelings, 55% of
the communication consists of body language, 38% is expressed through
tone of voice and only 7% is communicated through words. Most
communicators believe that face-to-face interaction is the best approach
for perfect personal communication. It is believed that "since I'm in a faceto-face conversation I'll show I'm sympathetic by mimicking the facial
expressions. 1 This is, however, because in face-to-face conversation, there
are many subtle cues provided by body language and vocal intonation that
let us know how what we are saying is affecting the other person.
Nobody can ever deny that even when we say nothing at all, we still
show something through our body; our eyes still say some hidden feelings;
our posture tells whether we are interested or not; our silence, orientation,
physical contact, etc. all carry out an indispensable function. Non-verbal
communication is, moreover, believed to be continuous while verbal
communication is discontinuous; while a speaker is busy producing a
communicative message, a listener, through maintaining silence, responds
and reacts to what the speaker is saying and communicates indirectly
through non-verbal but effective facial expressions and body signs.
By non-verbal we essentially mean everything except the words.
Body language is a finite system which provides access to languages,
1
. Ronald B. Adler & George Rodman, ed., Understanding Human Communication , 8th ed.(New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 59.
5
Non-verbal language
rather than being a language itself. It can be defined as a visual picture of
the speech sounds and sound patterns that are used in the English language
or any of the other 50 languages and dialects.
When people learn a second language they usually retain certain
paralinguistic, cultural and non-verbal features of their mother tongue. As
a result, they may unintentionally offend or give the wrong impression.
These misunderstandings can be difficult to sort out because their cause is
rarely recognised. It is not only what you say in the classroom that is
important, but it's how you say it that can make the difference to students.
Nonverbal messages are an essential component of communication in the
teaching process.
2. Examples of non-verbal features
2.1. Facial expressions and eye movement
Facial expressions usually communicate emotions. The expressions
tell the attitudes of the communicator. Researchers have discovered that
certain facial areas reveal our emotional state better than others. For
example, the eyes tend to reveal happiness or sadness, and even surprise.
The lower face also can reveal happiness or surprise; the smile, for
example, can communicate friendliness and cooperation. The lower face,
brows, and forehead can also reveal anger. Eye movement is a key part
of facial behaviour. The superior in the organization generally maintains
eye contact longer than the subordinate. The direct stare of the sender of
the message conveys candor and openness. It elicits a feeling of trust.
Downward glances are generally associated with modesty; eyes rolled
upward are associated with fatigue.
2.2. Body gestures
A body gesture is a movement made with a limb, especially the
hands, to express, confirm, emphasize or back up the speaker’s attitude or
intention. This non-verbal activity is regularly used in oral discourse. If a
body act requires no verbal accompaniment, it is called an “emblem”.
Examples are: hand signals such as waving good-bye, the “V” for victory
sign or the “high five” signalling victory. While some emblems, for
6
Non-verbal language
example a clenched fist, have universal meaning, there are others that are
idiosyncratic or culturally conditioned. The use of the zero shape made by
the fingers, for instance, does not mean the same thing in different
cultures. Standing for “OK” in the UK, it may be a vulgar expression in
South American cultures. Body gestures are always perceived and
interpreted together with facial expressions.
2.3. Body posture
Body posture is the bearing or the position of the speaker’s body. It
is a more or less stable state and thus not to be confused with body
gestures which are movements. Body posture can be characteristic and
assumed for a special purpose or it can correspond to the normal
expectations in the context of a particular situation. Obviously one can be
lying down, seating, or standing. Normally, these are not the elements of
posture that convey messages. However, when the speaker is slouched or
erect, his or her legs crossed or arms folded, such postures convey a
degree of formality or relaxation. Once more, they can also transfer
symbolic messages on the orator’s attitude or intention with regard to the
message.
2.4. Distance.
The distance one stands from another frequently conveys a nonverbal message. In some cultures it is a sign of attraction, while in others it
may reflect status or the intensity of the exchange.
2.5. Orientation.
People may present themselves in various ways: face-to-face, sideto-side, or even back-to-back. For example, cooperating people are likely
to sit side-by-side while competitors frequently face one another.
2.6. Pause
A pause can have two different functions:
1. It can be a brief suspension of the voice to indicate the limits and
relations of sentences and their parts. A pause then assumes a similar
function in oral discourse to intonation.
7
Non-verbal language
2. It can consist of a temporary vocal inaction revealing the speaker’s
uncertainty, hesitation, tension or uneasiness. In this context, a pause
can also be judgmental by indicating favour or disfavour, agreement or
disagreement. Consequently, the non-verbal cue of a pause can give rise
to problems when interpreting it because its meaning can vary
considerably. It can have a positive or negative influence on the process
of communication.
3. Non-verbal Features and classroom teaching
Usually body language occurs unconsciously. Yet the body
language we use decides to a large extent the quality of our
communication. It follows that therefore it would be good to become
conscious of our own and others' body language. We can learn to use our
body language for a purpose. As well as learn to understand and interpret
body language of others. It is important to note that body language has
different meanings in different cultures. How we can interpret body
language depends on the situation, the culture, the relationship we have
with the person as well as the gender of the other. This means that there is
not one signal that has the same meaning all over the world. If you do not
take this into account you may get yourself in some serious trouble!
Improving the act of teaching in a classroom implies the need to
study nonverbal cues and events, for many classroom phenomena serve as
communicators of information and tend to either facilitate or inhibit
learning. Nonverbal language, a reflection of both cultural and individual
differences, includes not only the teacher's facial expressions, postures,
gestures, etc., but also the way in which he manages the learning
environment--desk arrangement, movement and position in the classroom,
allocation of time, and tactics for controlling student behavior.
The most important sources of improvement lie, however, in the teacher's
continuing openness to, and awareness of, the occurrence and significance
of nonverbal events and expressions, i.e., in his "ability and willingness to
understand how he has been understood.
3.1. Importance of non-verbal features in classroom
As far as communication in the foreign language classroom is
concerned it is obvious that nonverbal behaviour plays an especially
8
Non-verbal language
important role. As the results yielded by a research project suggest, at
least four aspects are worth mentioning:
1. Communication in the classroom is highly organized. The teacher and
the pupils communicate mainly to reach specific aims which are largely
given in advance. The teacher as an expert in her or his field knows the
aims and has to achieve them in the most economical way possible. The
teacher’s function is to organize the communicative resources available
by the pupils so that the aims can be reached in an optimal way. This
very often requires the use of nonverbal signals.
2. In the foreign language classroom there is a specific constellation of the
participants in the discourse. There is one teacher and a group of pupils.
Due to this specific constellation and the largely asymmetrical role
relationship between the teacher and the pupils in class, the
communication which takes place is between one teacher and a group of
pupils. This, however, does not mean that there is no interaction at all
between a single pupil and a teacher. The remedial measures which the
teacher often uses after a learner commits an error, for example
corrections or repairs, are first and foremost directed to the individual
learner. But at the same time, these remedial measures have an
important function in preventing errors among the other members of the
group. With very few exceptions the teacher’s utterances are also
directed to the entire group of the learners. Thus supra-individual
repertoires of knowledge are built up and the reality of the classroom as
such is constituted. Part of the classroom management thus consists in
signalling to the learners that the relevance of utterances concerns the
whole group, even though in specific situations utterances are directly
addressed to single members of the group. This signalling is mainly
brought about nonverbally, above all by means of eye contact and
gesture.
3. In the foreign language classroom the primary aim of teaching and
learning is the acquisition of the foreign language code and its
appropriate use. Therefore, the teacher's feedback is usually directed
towards the correctness of the propositional content of the pupils'
utterances as well as towards its correct realization in the foreign
language. It can, therefore, be assumed that the reference of the
teacher's feedback on either the formal realization or the content of the
propositions uttered by the pupils is signalled nonverbally by the
teacher and thus understood by the pupils.
4. As certain nonverbal signs can replace verbal ones, it can be expected
that both the teacher and the pupils make use of this substitution
function of the nonverbal signs in the foreign language classroom. The
9
Non-verbal language
teachers may use nonverbal signals in order to transmit information
which they think that, if verbalized in the target-language, will not be
understood by the pupils; and learners may use them to transmit
information which they are unable to express in the foreign language.
The function of amplification in emphasizing, illustrating, and
interpreting verbal signs by nonverbal forms of behaviour must be seen
analogously.
3.2. Functions of some non-verbal communication
Gestures, expressions and all other forms of nonverbal
communication have functions, which, as with language, need to be taught
along with their forms. In the same way as language items, some
paralinguistic expressions have several functions, while nonverbal
communication in general performs the three basic functions of managing
identity, defining relationships, and conveying attitudes and feelings (but
not ideas):
Form
Nod (Yes)
Shrug (I don’t know)
Scratch head, quizzical look
Hand raised
Head shake
Eye movements
Staring/Looking down or away
Raised fist
Hand-shake
Touching, kissing
Over-adornment
Main Function (in some
cultures)
Repeating
Substituting
Complementing
Regulating, turn taking
Contradicting
Deceiving
Dominating/Submitting
Aggression
Socialising
Arousal
Boasting
10
Non-verbal language
3.3. Techniques for teaching non-verbals:
Nonverbal features need to be taught and practised situationally, in
the right contexts, and with plenty of cultural input and awareness.
However, there is a singular lack of material for the teacher which focuses
on this aspect of communication, but here are a few techniques:




Learners discuss the meaning of gestures and expressions (either
demonstrated by the teacher, from pictures, or from existing
published materials. This is particularly effective with multilingual
classes.
Learners watch a video clip without sound, then discuss and write
the dialogue.
Learners act out a dialogue using gesture and expression only:
o A: Excuse me. Can you take a picture of me?
o B: Yeah, sure.
o A: Just press that button.
o B: Er, which one?
o A: The one on the top.
o B: OK, right. Er.... can you move back a bit.
o A: Is this OK?
o B: Fine, now smile. That's it. Very nice.
o A: Thanks.
o B: Not at all. You've got a lovely smile. Er... fancy a drink?
o A: OK, but I've got no money on me.
o B: That's OK. I'll pay.
Learners, in pairs, take turns in listening to each other for 30
seconds, using only non-verbal responses.
3.4. The effective assisting role of non-verbals:
Nonverbal communication has implications for the teacher as
well as the learner. It is often said that one can always recognise
language teachers by their use of gesture in normal conversation, while
it is certainly true that a system of gestures has evolved which allows a
teacher to perform aspects of classroom management quickly, quietly
and efficiently. Gestures for 'work in pairs', 'open your books', 'listen'
and 'write' are universal, while individual teachers have developed
nonverbal repertoires involving the use of fingers to represent words,
11
Non-verbal language
expressions to denote approval/disapproval and gestures to indicate
time, tense and other linguistic features, and hence systems for
instruction, correction and management which well-trained learners
respond to immediately. The effective use of nonverbal cues assists in a
wide range of classroom practices by adding an extra dimension to the
language:












reducing unnecessary teacher talking time
increasing learner participation
confidence building
reducing fear of silence
clear instructions
efficient classroom management
classroom atmosphere
improving listening skills
improving performance in pair and group activities
self and peer correction
avoiding misunderstandings
improving intercultural competence
12
Non-verbal language
4. Conclusion
As a consequence of the considerations on the functions of
nonverbal behaviour in the foreign language classroom two facts
should be kept in mind:
1. Nonverbal signals play a highly important role in the communication in
the foreign language classroom.
2. Especially when nonverbal signs are used to interpret, comment on, or
modify the associated verbal utterances in discourse or when they
replace verbal signs they must be included in any discourse analysis.
Teachers, however, should always remember that the meanings
of gestures and other nonverbal cues need to be taught in the same way
as the meaning of essential classroom language. Moreover, they have
to make sure that the learners understand their codes, and teach them
to use them themselves.
It will be necessary to analyze the interaction of verbal
communication and nonverbal communication from now on, and to
develop the teacher educational program which focuses on the
formation for communicative capability.
13
Non-verbal language
Bibliography










Adler, Ronald B., George Rodman ( Editor).(2003). Understanding
human Communication. 8th ed., New York: Oxford University
Press.
Andersen, Peter A. (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Body
Language. New York: Alpha books.
Argyle,M.(1990). Bodily Communication. 2nd ed., New York:
International Universities Press.
Fast, Juluis. (1970). Body Language. New York: Simon & Schuster
Inc.
Louise Damen. (1987). Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension
in the Language Classroom. Addison- Wesley: USA.
Peter Hartley. (1993). Interpersonal Communication. Author:
New York.
Pierre Philippot, Robert S. Feldman, Erik J. Coats. (1999).The
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior. Cambridge University
Press : Cambridge.
Quilliam, Susan. (2004). Body Language , New York: Firefly
Book Ltd.
Robert S. Feldman. (1992). Applications of Nonverbal Behavioral
Theories and Research. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.: New
Jersey.
Wiener, Morton and Mehrabian, Albert .(1968). Language Within
Language: Immediacy, a Channel in Verbal Communication.
New York: Appleton-Century-Croft.
Web Resources


http://www.trainer.org.uk/members/theory/link_n0n-verbal features.htm
http://www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/six ways for using nonverbal
communications.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
 http://changingminds.org/Using Body Language.htm
 http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htm
 http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Shores/2339/nonverbal.html