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Non-verbal communicationSubmitted by admin on 6 September, 2005 - 13:00

Non-verbal communication (body language, paralinguistics) has been a focus of attentionfor some time in areas such as the refinement of presentation skills, developing socialskills, and even as a realistic alternative to the lie-detector test.

Relatively little attention, however, has been given in language teaching to non-verbalcommunication as a complement to spoken language, though recent trends in neurolinguistic programming regarding mirroring and parallel body language have filtered intocurrent research and practice.

Components of non-verbal communication

Teaching non-verbal communication

A non-verbal communication lesson

Conclusions

Components of non-verbal communicationSince it is said that as little as ten percent of communication takes place verbally, and thatfacial expressions, gestures and posture form part of our culture and language, it seemsreasonable that we should at least raise learners' awareness of non-verbal communicationin order to improve their use of natural language, increase confidence and fluency andhelp to avoid inter-cultural misunderstandings.

On the grounds that; 'It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it', there is much to besaid for teaching non-verbal communication either parallel to, or integrated with, alanguage and skills based syllabus, in the same way that phonology is often treated.

Non-verbal communication is a system consisting of a range of features often usedtogether to aid expression. The combination of these features is often a subconsciouschoice made by native speakers or even sub-groups/sub-cultures within a languagegroup. The main components of the system are:

Kinesics (body language) Body motions such as shrugs, foot tapping, drummingfingers, eye movements such as winking, facial expressions, and gestures

Proxemics (proximity) Use of space to signal privacy or attraction

Haptics Touch

Oculesics Eye contact

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Chronemics Use of time, waiting, pausing

Olfactics Smell

Vocalics Tone of voice, timbre, volume, speed

Sound symbols Grunting, mmm, er, ah, uh-huh, mumbling

Silence Pausing, waiting, secrecy

Posture Position of the body, stance

Adornment Clothing, jewellery, hairstyle

Locomotion Walking, running, staggering, limping

Of the above, body language (particularly facial expressions and gestures), eye contact,proximity and posture are probably those which learners most need to be aware of interms of conveying meaning, avoiding misunderstandings and fitting in with the targetculture.

In terms of skills development, non-verbal clues should not be underestimated whendeveloping both the listening and speaking skills. Like grammatical structures, non-verbalcommunication has form, function and meaning, all of which may vary from language tolanguage.

Teaching non-verbal communicationRelatively few techniques have been suggested for teaching non-verbal communication,but some suggestions are:

Learners discuss the meaning of gestures and expressions (either demonstrated bythe teacher, from pictures, or from existing published materials). This is particularlyeffective with multilingual classes

Learners mime adjectives of both physical and emotional feelings

Learners watch a video clip without sound, discuss body language, relationships,emotions and feelings, then write the dialogue

Learners act out a dialogue using gesture and expression only

Learners make up a dialogue based on mime

Learners, in pairs, take turns in listening to each other for 30 seconds, using onlynon-verbal responses.

A non-verbal communication lessonBelow I've described a sixty-minute lesson which was delivered by a trainee teacher on arecent course at the Izmir University of Economics in Turkey. The lesson was planned bythe trainee, with advice and some materials provided by the course tutor. Her aims were toraise learners' awareness of non-verbal communication, to present a variety of non-verbalcues and to give the learners the opportunity to practise and produce some of these cues,as well as to develop and integrate all four skills. The class comprised adult students at

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good intermediate level.

The lesson consisted of six stages:

A running dictation using a short text about non-verbal communication, theinstructions for which were given without speaking by gesture and mime.

A brief brainstorming activity to elicit and teach key terms.

Focus on gestures through cartoon pictures of different hand or facial gestures.Students were asked to discuss the meanings in their own culture, were shown avariety of other meanings in other cultures, and were invited to contribute otherexamples.

Practice using a scripted dialogue. Pairs of students rehearsed parts, then acted outthe dialogue using expressions, gestures and posture.

Students built dialogues based on silent viewing of a short video clip.

Students combined verbal and non-verbal communication in the context of a shortextract from a play.

ConclusionsOn reflection, this may have been an overambitious lesson, attempting to take studentsfrom an introduction to a concept with which they were unfamiliar to a full-blownproduction stage.

Although the learners found the first three stages of the lesson both interesting andentertaining, they found the practice activities progressively more difficult, though this mayhave been due to the selection of materials. However, such immersion in the topic may bethe only way to fully expose intermediate students to a totally unfamiliar area.

There are a number of lessons to be learnt from the experience:

Non-verbal communication needs to be taught in small chunks in appropriatesituations where the situational or thematic context lends itself to the language.

Time needs to be devoted to confidence-building, creativity and other drama-basedactivities which help learners to produce natural language and to use expressionsand gestures to reinforce meaning.

Non-verbal communication, like phonology, should be taught from beginner level.Crash courses in natural language production are unlikely to work. An awareness-raising approach is appropriate.

Gesture and expression, in particular, add an extra dimension to language, andcertainly add to the cultural component that verbal communication carries. Anawareness of non-verbal cues also helps to avoid some of the misunderstandingswhich are the inevitable but annoying consequence of cultural interpretation ofmeaning.

Further readingDarn S. Aspects of Non-verbal Communication The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 2Darn S, Ledbury R, White I. The Importance of Eye Contact in the Classroom The Internet

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TESL Journal, Vol. X, No. 8Feldman R. S.& Rime (Eds.) Fundamentals of Non-verbal Behavior CUP Givens D. B The Non-verbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs and Body Language Cueshttp://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htmField J. Skills and Strategies: Towards a new Methodology for Listening ELT Journal Vol.52/2 Nolasco R. & Arthur L. Conversation (Activity 37) OUP (Good source of cartoons forgestures)

Dilek Eryilmaz and Steve Darn, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey

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MethodologySpeaking PresentationCore teachingmethodologyAny ageSpeaking : use appropriate non-verbal cuesTeaching competenciesMethodology/approachesSpeakingCourse and Lesson PlanningArticles

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