非言语交际

AbstractHuman communication can be divided into two categories: verbal communication and nonverbal communication, while verbal means is commonly considered to be the most important, efficient, powerful means of communication. Over decades, much attention has been given to the research on verbal communication, while a very important fact was neglected: in face-to-face communication, the use of nonverbal communication is more common than that of verbal communication, and it is an essential part of human communication, which plays a significant role. Ignorance of nonverbal messages will result in incompleteness.English language teaching, as a process of face-to-face communication, is also performed both verbally and nonverbally. Nonverbal communication plays an important role in classroom teaching, and nonverbal skills are invaluable for teachers in getting the messages across and understanding the messages of interests or messages of confrontations, which are sending through postures, gestures, eye contact, etc. So far, scholars in many fields home and abroad have contributed a lot to the study on nonverbal communication. So this paper mainly explores the application of nonverbal communication in English classroom teaching. It mainly consists of six chapters.Chapter one, introduction shows the place of nonverbal cues in human communication and nonverbal factors in ELT methodology. Chapter two is an overview of nonverbal communication. It focuses on the history and the development of nonverbal behavior researches as well as definition, classification, and functions of nonverbal communication. Chapter three deals with methodology. By watching videos, the author analyzes the materials. Chapter four explores the practical application of English teachers’ nonverbal communication in classroom teaching. Chapter five presents some effective ways to improve nonverbal communication in English classroom teaching. Chapter six is conclusion.Based on the achievements of the modern linguistics, psychology and sociology,this article aims to study systematically on the history，the definition，the classification，the functions of nonverbal communication. Videos for 30 excellent English teachers whose courses are downloaded from the Internet and I adopt literature research to collect a number of relevant documents to study the application of nonverbal communication in ELT systematically.This paper aims at illustrating in details the use of nonverbal communication of English teachers in the process of English teaching, indicating how English teachers efficiently make full use of nonverbal communication in classroom teaching to arouse students’ interest of learning English.Key words：nonverbal communication; English language teaching; methodologyContentsChapter 1 Introduction (1)1.1 The Place of Nonverbal Cues in Human Communication (1)1.2 Nonverbal Factors in Foreign Language Teaching Methodology (2)Chapter 2 An Overview of Nonverbal Communication (5)2.1 The History of Nonverbal Communication Studies (5)2.2 The Definition of Nonverbal Communication (6)2.3 The Classification of Nonverbal Communication (7)2.3.1 Classification of Nonverbal Communication by Western Scholars . 72.3.2 Classification of Nonverbal Communication by Chinese Scholars .. 72.3.3 Classification of Nonverbal Communication in Classroom Teaching (8)2.4 Functions of Nonverbal Communication (9)2.4.1 Repeating. (9)2.4.2 Substituting. (9)2.4.3 Contradicting (10)2.4.4 Complementing. (10)2.4.5 Accenting. (10)2.4.6 Regulating. (10)Chapter 3 Methodology (11)3.1 Objectives (11)3.2 Subjects (11)3.3 Instruments- Videos (11)3.4 Data Collection (11)3.5 Data Analysis (12)3.5.1 Analysis of Videos (12)3.5.1.1 Movements of the Head (12)3.5.1.2 Movements of the Hand (13)3.5.1.3 Smiling (13)3.5.1.4 Eye Contact (13)3.5.1.5 Time Assignment for Teacher and Students (14)3.5.1.6 Posture (14)3.5.2 Summary (15)Chapter 4 The Practical Application of English Teachers’ Nonverbal Communication in Classroom Teaching........................................................ .174.1 Facial Expression (17)4.2 Gesture (18)4.3 Eye Contact (18)4.4 Nonverbal Sound (19)Chapter 5 The Ways to Improve Classroom Nonverbal Communication (21)5.1 Being a Careful Observer of Nonverbal Communication (21)5.2 Awareness of the Importance of Nonverbal Communication (21)5.3 Nonverbal Flexible Communication (22)5.4 Warm Atmosphere in Classroom (22)Chapter 6 Conclusion (24)Bibliography (25)Chapter 1 IntroductionAs we all know, communication is the basis of all human contact, which is central to human life. The most important ways to communicate is through language. What’s more, when language is written, it can be completely isolated from the context and it can be treated as if it were an independent and self-contained process. We have been so successful in using, describing, and analyzing this special kind of communication. Sometimes, we act as if language were the only kind of communication that can occur between people.However, effective human communication consists of two types: verbal communication and nonverbal communication. For a long time, only the former one occurred to us immediately when we discussed human communication, while the later one was neglected to a large extent. In fact, nonverbal communication plays a significant role in our daily life.In the past two decades, English teaching has made great achievements. Yet problems still prevail. Daily classroom teaching is still inefficient although a lot of time and money has been spent on. One of the reasons for that is that nonverbal communication is neglected in daily classroom teaching. The author supposes that, as the disseminator of knowledge, English teachers should not only pay much attention to verbal communication, which is the effective way of transmitting and understanding the message, but also be fully aware of the important functions of their own nonverbal communication.1.1 The Place of Nonverbal Cues in Human CommunicationThe importance of nonverbal communication has been fully accounted for by communication theorists.Albert Mehrabian (1972) found in his research that only 7% of the emotional meaning of a message is communicated through explicit verbal channels. About 38% of it is communicated by paralanguage, which is basically the use of the voice. About 55% comes through nonverbal ones, which includes such things as gesture, posture, facial expressions, etc.Miller (1981) suggests “only 7% of a message is sent through words with the remaining 93% sent through facial expressions (55%) and vocal intonation (32%)”.Samovar, L, et al. (1981), positively express their view that most authorities believe that in a normal two-person conversation, the verbal components carry less than 35% of the total social meaning of the situation and that more than 65% is carried on the nonverbal band.Leger Brosnahan (1991) says that half of the information in the communication is carried on the n onverbal band. Abereomile once points out: “We speak with our vial organs, but we converse with our whole body” (Bi Jiwan, 1999).Nonverbal communication is important to the study of intercultural communication because a great deal of nonverbal behavior speaks a universal language. “Many scholars believe that nonverbal signals are part of a universally recognized and understood code (Burgoon, et al. 1996:5).” Behaviors such as smil ing, frowning, laughing, and crying, tend to have similar meanings, whether in Dayton, Ohio, Madrid, Spain, or Guangzhou, China.Apart from the above discussion, the author claims that verbal communication and nonverbal communication are integrated in human communication. The latter isn’t the rest of human interaction with the absence of verbal communication, nor is the additional complementary one, but an indispensable action which plays a functional role in human communication. On one hand, a single verbal communication without any nonverbal communication can’t be easily understood by people; on the other, it is companied by words that nonverbal communication can express explicit meanings, and there is no isolated nonverbal communication. It is the cooperation of verbal communication and nonverbal communication that forms the whole process of effective human communication. That is to say, we might see better that verbal message are more appropriate for some exchanges and nonverbal messages for others, and that both have their natural and complementary roles to play in human society.1.2 Nonverbal Factors in Foreign Language Teaching MethodologyBi Jiwan states: “Western scholars believe that the role of nonverbal communication in classroom teaching is greater than that of formal teaching for students’ learning. Research has indicated that teachers are required to learn to use nonverbal communication to improve classroom teaching” (1993:153).Cooper remarked: “Nonverbal communication is quite important for t eachers. Research has showed that the relationship between teachers and students can be improved if teachers learn how to use nonverbal communication in classroom teaching. Moreover, students’ cognitive competence and learning efficiency can be improved” (1988:57).Just as the studies by Schiefer (1986), Mc Neil, Alibai, and Evans (2000) find that if the teacher’s nonverbal communication is vivid and alive, it will be helpful for the students’ understanding and command of knowledge in the classroom and it’s also much easier for students to memorize. Boone and Buck (2003) indicate, the expression of high spirits lies in the inter-attraction and cooperation between people. More understandings will be made if nonverbal communication companies the language. All these researches indicate that the teacher should be in high spirits and active.In China, the first people who took an interest in nonverbal communication studies were teachers of foreign languages. That is why teachers of English make full use of nonverbal cues in such teaching methods as the Direct Method, the Audio-visual Approach, the Communicative Approach, Suggestopedia, the Silent Way and the Total Physical Response Method. In the Direct Method, the activity type involves the use of regalia, pictures, pantomime, and map-drawing. The Audio-visual Approach emphasizes the faculties of sight and hearing. The Silent Way uses colorful sticks, colored roads, color-coded pronunciation and vocabulary charts, and all kinds of objects, actions and gestures to make it more effective. In Suggestopedia, music and tapes play an important role. In the Total Physical Response, as its name suggests, actions and gestures are sufficient. The Communicative Approach stresses that language is a system for the expression of meaning, primary function-interaction and communication and that to communicate effectively, one has to have socialcompetence as well. Awareness of nonverbal cues and the skills of applying nonverbal cues in English teaching to make it more effective should be regarded as one of the most important qualities of English teachers, as the communicative English text books have been popularized not only in middle schools but also in colleges.At the beginning of 2004, in order to adapt to the new developing situation of national higher education, deepening the educational reform, upgrading the teaching quality, and fitting in with the needs of the society, the Ministry of Education released the new College English Course Teaching and Learning Requirements (Trial Version). It indicates that English knowledge, applied skill, learning strategies are included in the objective of college English teaching, while cross-cultural communication includes the competence of verbal communication and that of nonverbal communication. To be exact, it is composed of three parts: written communication ability, oral communication ability and nonverbal communication ability. Here we can understand that nonverbal communication is an integrated part of EFL classroom teaching. Therefore college English teachers should fully realize the role played by nonverbal behaviors, let alone nonverbal behaviors performed by themselves, for the teachers’ appropriate nonverbal behaviors not only improve the relationship between the teachers and the students, but also set up a good image for the students. For a vivid smile, an encouraging gesture, or a gentle expression in teachers’ eyes can be effective tools for the improvement of the relation between teachers and students, which can also consequently improve classroom teaching effect.Chapter 2 An Overview of Nonverbal CommunicationIn this chapter, it mainly discusses the history of nonverbal communication studies, the definition of nonverbal communication, the classification of nonverbal communication and functions of nonverbal communication.2.1 The History of Nonverbal Communication StudiesWhen did the study of nonverbal communication start? Most authorities believe that the scientific study of nonverbal communication is primarily post-World War Two, whose history is no more than 40years.However, before this time, Darwin, the father of nonverbal communication, his Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in 1872 should be mentioned for one of the most influential pre-20th-century works. This work spawns the modern study of facial expressions, and many of his observations and ideas have been validated by other researchers.The representative works during the first half of the 20th century were Kretschmer’s Physique and Character in 1925 and his The Variations of Human Physique in 1940 and Efron’s Gesture and Environment in 1941.In 1950s, it shows there is a production of a significant increase in the number of nonverbal studies. To begin with, the production of Birdwhistell’s Introduction to Kinesics in 1952 and E. F. Hall’s Silent Language in 1959 is the remarkable symbol of the birth of nonverbal communication as a discipline. After that, a popular book titled Nonverbal Communication: Notes on the visual perception of human relations by Jurgen Ruesch and Weldon Kees in 1956 appeared, which was probably the first book to use the term “nonverbal communication” in its title. In the 1960s, the study of the nonverbal communication developed into a new stage, in which man’s different gestures were studied.In the 1970s, Julius Fast’s Body Language was introduced into China and regarded as the best seller. In 1972, Markl.Kapp published Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction, which summarized the research on nonverbal behavior in highly readable fashion.During the 1980s, some scholars began to concentrate on identifying the ways inwhich a variety of nonverbal signals work together to accomplish common communicative goals. For example, getting someone to do something for you, showing affection, lying to someone, and so forth (Patterson, 1983). Since China joined the academic team on nonverbal communication, with more and more works published and translated, some Chinese scholars began to focus their attention on nonverbal communication from the late 1980s. Geng Er’ling published An Introduction to Body Language in 1988, which is the first book on nonverbal communication that mainly discusses the characteristics, functions, and skills of using body language. At the same year, Meng Xiaoping translated Body Language written by J. Fast, and Nonverbal Communication written by Malandro. Then Hu Wenzhong edited several books on intercultural communication:Culture and Communication (1994), and A dictionary of British and American Culture (1995), all of which include some articles or chapters on nonverbal communication. In 1999, Bi Jiwan, an expert in the field of nonverbal communication, finished and published his famous works Intercultural Nonverbal Communication2.2 The Definition of Nonverbal CommunicationWe need first and foremost to understand what nonverbal communication is. So far, there are a variety of versions given by different scholars.According to Mark Knapp (1980:18), the phrase nonverbal communication refers to communication effect by means other than words (assuming words are the verbal element).Burgoon and Saine show that nonverbal communication is the qualities or behaviors known to all in a community without the use of words and such qualities or behaviors are intentionally given by the speaker and consciously received and responded by the listeners. (1989:1)Samovar and Porter (2000:149) propose that nonverbal communication involves all those nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source of receiver.We can come to the conclusion that the purpose of giving such a lengthy definition is to offer a definition that could not only mark the boundaries of nonverbal communication, but also reflect how the process actually works. This definition not only includes unintentional but intentional behaviors in the total communication event.2.3 The Classification of Nonverbal CommunicationAs different linguists describe nonverbal communication in different dimensions, there is no general agreement in classification yet. Here some recognized classifications of nonverbal communication proposed by different theorists and linguists are offered.2.3.1 Classification of Nonverbal Communication by Western ScholarsRuesch and Kees in 1956 put forward the earliest classification of nonverbal communication which was based on foundational components of nonverbal communication: sign language, action language and body language.In Michae l Argyle’s book (1984) Bodily Communication, nonverbal communication is identical to body language, including facial expressions, gaze, gestures and bodily movements, postures, bodily contact, spatial behavior, clothes, physique and other aspects of appearance and nonverbal vocalizations.Genelle Morain divided nonverbal communication into three types: 1) body language which refers to movement, gestures, posture, facial expression, touch, gaze and distancing; 2) object language which includes the use of signs, designs, clothing, artifacts, regalia and personal adornment; 3) environmental language which consists of color, lighting, architecture, space, direction and natural surroundings.M. Knapp(1997:12-20) proposed seven categories to nonverbal communication: body motion and kinesics behavior, physical characteristics, touching behavior, paralanguage, proxemics, artifacts, and environmental factors.2.3.2 Classification of Nonverbal Communication by ChineseScholarsHe Daokun (1988:143) concerned the nonverbal communication in this way: time language, space language (body distance or proxemics), body language, voice modulation (the way voice is modulated or manipulated) and environment.Yang Ping (1994) developed the concept of nonverbal communication into three issues: 1) proxemics which studies man’s use and perception of his social and personal space; 2) kinesics which studies the meaning conveyed through movements of any parts of the body; 3) paralanguage which deals with how things are talked about.Bi Jiwan (1999:6) held that nonverbal communication could fall into four classes:1) Body language, including basic posture, gesture, basic manners and movements of any part of the body;2) Paralanguage, including silence, turn-talking and any nonverbal sounds;3) Object language, including complexion, smell, clothing, cosmetics and furniture;4) Environmental language, including time, space, colors, etc.He pointed out that the former two could be called “Nonverbal Behavior”, and the latter two” Nonverbal Means”. In this paper, the author chooses Bi’s classification for reference because his classification is suitable for Chinese teachers.2.3.3 Classification of Nonverbal Communication in Classroom TeachingTo discuss the application of nonverbal communication in classroom teaching, the writer of the paper selects Cooper’s classification on nonverbal communication in classroom teaching as following types (1988:60-83) :1) Proxemics, including personal territory and interpersonal distance. Generallyspeaking, proxemics between teachers and students are larger than among students.Teachers’ standing beside students to watch t hem ding homework or taking test is regarded as invasion into students’ territory in western cultures.2)Kinesics. The frequent use of body language in classroom can lead to bettereffectiveness of teaching.3)Chronemics, involving schedule of every course and time that teachers givestudents to answer questions and time that teachers spend on different students. 4)Spatial arrangements, the arrangement of the classroom space. It also concernsterritory and it is related to such factors as whom the person speaks to, when and where the person speaks, what and when the person says. The arrangement of the seats is another main factor.5)Environmental factors. It consists of architecture, color, decoration, lighting andso on.6)Physical attractiveness and artifacts of teachers, which can affect the effectivenessof teaching and relationship between teachers and students.7)Touch. It is bad for teachers to touch adult students, but sometimes teachers canpat students on the shoulder or back to show praise and encouragement.8)Paralanguage. Paralanguage such as silence and beautiful voice quality play animportant role in classroom teaching.2.4 Functions of Nonverbal CommunicationAs a pattern of human communication, nonverbal behavior has many different functions. Argyle (1988) has classified its functions as expressing emotion, conveying attitude, presenting one’s personality to others and supporting speech.Meanwhile, nonverbal communication and verbal communication complement each other. There are six major functions included in this special form communication which is in conjunction with the verbal.2.4.1 Repeating.A nonverbal message can repeat a verbal message. For example, a librarian says: “Let’s be quiet”, and places a finger to the lips. As we all know, putting a finger to the lips is a symbol of the need to be quiet. It will send a clear message without verbal message.2.4.2 Substituting.It occurs when nonverbal messages are sent instead of verbal messages. Wavingor beckoning another person is common examples. For instance, when someone directs you into a tight parking space, gestures might be used to substitute words because the car’s noisy engine proh ibits speaking.2.4.3 Contradicting.Nonverbal communication may contradict other message. Sometimes, verbal communication can’t reflect people’s inner heart. That’s to say, the information conveyed by verbal behaviors can’t be always true, while nonverba l message must be the real information. Breaking eye contact while saying: “Nice to see you.” contradicts a speaker’s positive verbal message.2.4.4 Complementing.Sometimes verbal communication can’t transmit the message sufficiently, and then we will draw support from nonverbal one in order to make the expression more vivid and lively. For example, when parents tell the story about the big wolf to their children, they often imitate the voice of the big wolf so as to make them get a better comprehension.2.4.5 Accenting.Nonverbal message can be used to accent distinct points in the verbal message. For example, if you say “I love you” to someone you care about, a hug or kiss is usually followed. Accenting can also be achieved by changing the pitch stress on a word or a group of words.2.4.6 Regulating.Nonverbal communication is the major means of controlling the flow of communication between people. By heads nods, eye contact, vocal inflection, and body leans, we can tell if it’s our turn to enter the c ommunication.Chapter 3 Methodology3.1 Objectives(1) What kind of functions does nonverbal communication have?(2) How can teachers make their nonverbal communication appropriate in EFL classrooms?3.2 SubjectsThe subjects of this investigation consist of 30 teachers whose courses are excellent courses. To make the data analysis more objective and authoritative, excellent courses are chosen from teachers at different ages ranging from 23 years old to 58 years old, with 9 males and 21 females respe ctively. What’s more, they are from various schools. Although all the English teachers chosen have various teaching experience, it is true that they are all skilled in teaching methods and have certain knowledge on body language for their courses are rated as excellent courses. And all the students have certain language and cultural background knowledge in English. By doing these the author could have a clear idea of whether the classes with a lot of nonverbal communication employed could achieve better results.3.3 Instruments- VideosThis deals with the quantity and type of teacher’s nonverbal communication in the classroom. Since the object of the study is teacher’s nonverbal communication in English teaching classrooms, it is necessary to make accurat e count on teacher’s nonverbal communication, such as the quantity of their looking around, the quantity of their nodding head, and so on.According to the literature review in Chapter Two, 2.3.2, classification on nonverbal communication in classroom teaching by Bi Jiwan (1999: 6) is mentioned. Referring to Bi Jiwan (1999: 6), the author designed the video analysis table covering the following items: body Language, paralanguage, object Language, and environmental Language.3.4 Data CollectionThe 30 video sources were downloaded from the Internet. And he author finished downloading the videos and counting the quantity of teachers’ nonverbal communication in person. Most of the videos are from the internal sources on the website, which can best represent the most brilliant teaching in their universities.3.5 Data AnalysisThe videos are collected to make a table for analysis. The key points of the answers of the teachers and students to the questions asked in the interview were noted down, and they were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively by calculating the percentage and summarizing the trend in the answers.3.5.1 Analysis of VideosAmong the observable body language, the following ones are more prominent and more likely to happen.The Use of Body Language of Excellent English TeachersTable 3-13.5.1.1 Movements of the HeadWe can observe from table 3-1 that the mean of the quantity of head movements of excellent teachers is higher, which shows that excellent teachers make head movements more frequently in the process of classroom teaching. As F equals to12.048, which is more than 1, it shows that different quantities of head movements of the teachers have a great effect on the teaching. Last but not least, Sig stands for the accuracy. α equals to 0.05, which is more than the value of P, and then the previous hypothesis is refused. That is to say, this result also proves that different quantities of head movements of the teachers make an obvious difference on the effect of teaching.3.5.1.2 Movements of the HandHand movements are also very obvious in the observation. Pointing and waving are the most common ones, and they are almost equivalent in the number of occurrence. From table 1, we can see that excellent teachers make hand movements more frequently. Moreover, it is also obvious that the Sd. Deviation of the quantity of hand movements of excellent teachers is higher. As F equals to 16.558, which is more than 1, it shows that different quantities of hand movements of the teachers have a great effe ct on the teaching. In the last column of the table, α equals to 0.05, which is more than the value of P, and then the previous hypothesis is refused. That is to say, this result also proves that different quantities of hand movements of the teachers make an obvious difference on the effect of teaching.3.5.1.3 SmilingSmiling shows a kind and amiable expression, effectively shortening distance between people and leaving a wonderful impression on others. Among various facial expressions, smiling is the most commonly applied and the most easily observed one. Since the mean and the Sd. Deviation of the quantity of smiling of excellent teachers are both higher, which shows that excellent teachers smile more frequently. Different quantities of smiling of teachers also have a great effect on the teaching since the value of F is more than 1. Finally, α is more than the value of P, then the previous hypothesis is refused. That is to say, this result also proves that different quantities of smiling of the teachers make an obvious difference on the effect of teaching.3.5.1.4 Eye ContactFor those teachers who are prepared to have eye contact with students, their facial expressions are also of quantity and variety. From table 1, we can find that the。