1Non-verbal language

An Access for Better Teaching-Learning Process

Presented byM. I. Tillawi

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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.

I- Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………………………….

………..1II- Research Questions …………………………………………………………………………...……….

…………..1III-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

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I- Literature Review:

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.

I

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.

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3. use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways

1. IntroductionCommunication, 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 face-to-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

1 . Ronald B. Adler & George Rodman, ed., Understanding Human Communication , 8th ed.(New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 59.

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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, 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.

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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 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 non-verbal 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, side-to-side, or even back-to-back. For example, cooperating people are likely to sit side-by-side while competitors frequently face one another.

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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.

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.

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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 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.

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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 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 Main Function (in some cultures)

Nod (Yes) RepeatingShrug (I don’t know) SubstitutingScratch head, quizzical look ComplementingHand raised Regulating, turn takingHead shake ContradictingEye movements DeceivingStaring/Looking down or away Dominating/Submitting

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Raised fist AggressionHand-shake SocialisingTouching, kissing ArousalOver-adornment Boasting

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.

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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, 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

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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.

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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.

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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