|
|
|
|
Evidence: Research Project On Nonverbal Language By Kimberly Frazier Introduction:
The purpose of my paper is to explore the importance of nonverbal language in the classroom setting. I hope to answer the following questions; Is nonverbal language used by teachers as an aid in communication or is it taught to student to help them in their communication and social skills with others? How important is nonverbal communication to successful communication? Having a background in communicating with the hearing impaired, I am very aware of the need for nonverbal communication to express meaning. How much does nonverbal language effect meaning? My goal is to provide findings and ideas to help teachers and students be successful communicators.
Review of the Research:
In referring to communication, "psychologists say that a person's impact depends seven percent on what is said, 38 percent on how it is said and 55 percent on body language." (Shalleck-Klein 1998) Posture and stance, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, proximity, and appearance all communicate over half of our meaning nonverbally. "Most people do not realize just how much they use this unspoken language every time they communicate with another person. They use it unconsciously." (Wainwright, 1985 p.1) It is generally recognized that communication can take three different channels: linguistic, (grammar, vocabulary, etc.), paralinguistic, (intonation, stress, pitch, etc.), and nonverbal (body language, gestures, etc.). Nonverbal communication usually performs one or more of the following functions; regulatory function, interpersonal function, emblematic function, illustrative function, and adaptive function. (Capper 2000)
· Regulatory function: Nonverbal communication can help manage conversation, particularly in situations with people whose language or style is different from one another. · Interpersonal function: Nonverbal communication helps us express attitudes and emotions in interpersonal relations. · Emblematic function: Gestures to convey a specific message (i.e. waving goodbye) · Illustrative function: Nonverbal communication can be used to indicate size, shape, distance, etc. · Adaptive function: Nonverbal language is used as a means of reassurance, self-comforting: unconscious acts such as playing with hair, swinging legs, etc. (Capper 2000)
"Experts on nonverbal communication agree that 'body language' movements are partly instinctive, partly taught and partly imitative." (An overview…) This simply means that some nonverbal language seems to be "inborn" and has the same meaning across all cultures, for example smiling and frowning. Other nonverbal language appears to be imitative because they are not universal across cultures, but rather have meaning that is learned specifically in that setting. For example, in Japan, nodding ones head simply means 'I hear you or I am following what you are saying," while in America, nodding ones head generally means agreement with what is being said. (Capper 2000) Some nonverbal language is consciously and explicitly learned and practiced, i.e. skipping, and how one drinks their tea. Nonverbal language includes gestures, head movements, facial expressions, eye contact, posture, stance, proximity, appearance, and bodily contact. 1. Gestures are the easiest to identify and are usually used in a conscious effort to communicate a specific message. For example, "The boy was this tall." or "I need a box about this size." It may be wise to remember there are gestures that are inappropriate in one culture, but perfectly fine in another. This can be critical for people learning another language, or should I say, another culture. This application will be discussed in more detail below. 2. Head movements communicate different meanings in different cultures, as discussed above in head nodding in Japan. Within a culture, some head movements may have several meanings. For example, in the English culture, head nodding can be used for agreement, affirmation, recognition, or as a taking turns signal. This could be important to understand in the classroom setting. 3. Many facial expressions are universal, i.e. raised eyebrows, smiling, frowning, and fatigue. Although the expressions themselves may be universal, the use or lack of use may vary from culture to culture. Some cultures are very expressive of their emotions, while in other cultures it is practiced not to show any emotion. 4. Eye contact is another important nonverbal communication. It can aid in conversation management, in providing feedback, and in establishing status or impressions. In managing a conversation, the eyes show interest and understanding, or the lack there of. While conversing, a person may look around or look at their watch, thus giving feedback that they are not engaged in the conversation. Eyes also provide feedback as to whether someone even wants to initiate a conversation. An immediate look away or a look to the floor right after initial eye contact, may indicate the person is not interested in conversation. Eye contact also serves to establish status of dominance or submission, intimacy, and humbleness. This can very from culture to culture, especially in regards to the length of time in eye contact. Eye contact can leave impressions with others almost immediately. People read eye contact to see if someone is friendly, rude, respectful, intimidating, bored, trustworthy, nervous, etc. A shifting gaze may make someone appear untrustworthy, secretive, or nervous. Positive impressions are left when one engages in just the right amount of eye contact to appear friendly and interested. Too much eye contact might appear dominating or rude. Again, proper time duration varies from culture to culture. This can pose a problem for some ELL students. 5. Posture can show confidence or the lack of. A good example of this is how brave knights are pictured with their shoulders back and their chest forward. Posture can also give good feedback to the teacher on how their students are feeling. If a student is slouching in their seat, it may indicate they are not interested in the lesson or that they are tired or bored. Posture can also indicate whether someone is relaxed or tense. Leaning back in a chair with one arm draped over the back reflects a relaxed atmosphere, where as sitting straight up in a chair or even leaning slightly forward with their hands on their knees may indicate intenseness or formalness. 6. Stance can reflect interest, dominance, and a person's emotional state. Slightly leaning forward on two feet shows one is interested in the person or situation. Feet apart and hands on their hips reflect dominance, authority, or even perhaps anger. One could guess that a person was sad or depressed if they stood with arms down at their sides, shoulders slumped forward and head bent down. These can be good cues for teachers to notice of students, especial in the teen years. 7. Proximity can really help or hinder communication. The concept of interpersonal space is important because if someone violates the cultural norm, what is being said is lost to how uncomfortable the other person is. For example, in America we have an 18" to 2' unconscious rule of distance when engaging in conversation. If someone is too close and in "your space", you become very uncomfortable and have a hard time concentrating on what that person is saying. Also, if one is too far away, it is harder to hold their interest. This can be a problem in the classroom. Teachers use proximity in managing behavior often. If a child is not paying attention, the teacher may walk over to be closer to the student. This usually refocuses the student's attention back on the teacher. 8. A nonverbal message is often given in appearance. Right or wrong, people make judgments on how one values their situation or what kind of person one is based on how they look or dress. Appearance plays an important role in first impressions. One would probably never walk into an interview in jeans and a t-shirt, if they really wanted the job. The employer would think this person does not really care about this job or he/she is lazy and sloppy. Not your ideal employee. How one grooms and dresses for a specific occasion, indicates what value they place on it. Was this occasion worth their extra efforts? In the school setting, students and teachers should think about the message they are sending. 9. Bodily contact is the use of touch to communicate a message. Often a gentle hand on someone's' arm or back can be reassuring and empathetic. A firm hand resting on a shoulder can signal a demand for attention. Other bodily contacts used as nonverbal communication are hugs, kisses, handshaking, and nudges.(Capper 2000 & Ritts {nd.})
Nonverbal communication is a skill. In regards to nonverbal language, "about 10 percent of children suffer from deficiencies so severe that they experience social rejection. Another 10 percent demonstrate such an unusually high proficiency in nonverbal skills that they almost always excel in social interactions." (Duke, 1996 p. vi) Nonverbal language is not only important in communicating meaning, but also in relating with other people socially. The ability to relate well with others is so important in life and nonverbal language plays a key role. Wainwright suggests that educators should "regard it as a skill in the same way that reading, writing, listening and speaking are skills." (Wainwright, 1985 p.175)
Nonverbal language contributes so much to successful communication. I recently had an opportunity to witness this first hand. While in the Atlanta airport, I was asked by an employee to help a man get to the baggage claim. Being a true southerner with inborn hospitality, I naturally said, "Why, sure. I will get him there." Come to find out, the man needing help was from outside the U.S. and only spoke Spanish, of which I know very, very little. He began rapidly speaking to me in Spanish, at which time I, nonverbally, indicated I had no clue. We both instantly began gesturing; he pointed to the one bag in his hand and I nodded in response and said "Baggage Claim." I waved my hand to urge him to follow me onto the train. I indicated by pointing to the sign which exit we would take and then waved him off to come and follow me when we arrived. After walking him to the baggage area, I pointed to the flight screens and made a hand sign that looked like an airplane and then said, "Numero". He handed me his ticket stub and I showed him were he could wait for the luggage to come out. We parted with smiles, waves, a nod of thank you, and a wave of no problem. With very little verbal language and 99% nonverbal language, we communicated great meaning. Granted, ELL students will have more verbal communication than in this situation, but it makes it real clear how important nonverbal communication is when ones goal is understanding and meaning. Even with children who are native speakers, research suggests that nonverbal communication is still 55% of their communication. In saying this, it would be negligent of us as educators not to teach nonverbal language skills, to not only ELL students, but also to all students. ELL students need to be instructed on the differences in nonverbal language between cultures as well. "While it is not surprising that linguistic and paralinguistic features are given prominence in language learning, nonverbal aspects seem to be almost completely neglected, surprisingly so given the central role of nonverbal communication in face to face communication." (Capper 2000) My data research below will show some surprising information on nonverbal language in the classroom.
Data Research
Having established that nonverbal language is such a large, integral part of our communication, I wanted to know how many teachers used it in the classroom. I also wondered how they used it, as a teaching tool or as a subject to be taught to students. (See Teacher Survey below) I also wanted to know how many students felt their teachers use nonverbal language and if they were consciously taught about nonverbal language in school as a tool for better communication. (See Student Survey below)
Data Collection
I used two surveys to collect my data. I asked eleven teachers to respond to my Teacher Survey and seventeen students to answer my Student Survey. I am fortunate enough to attend a church affiliated with a large private school in the Atlanta area. Many educators of that school and of the public system attend that specific church and so I decided to use them. Nine of the eleven teachers I surveyed taught K-12th grades in a private or public school in Atlanta. One was a family member who taught Kindergarten in Arkansas, but I wanted to see if her result was similar to the others. And the other professional taught in the public system, but was coaching my son's swim team this summer. Many of the teachers are currently working on or have their Masters. I chose this group because they were a good mix of educators with a wide range of grade levels taught. To collect this data, I called them on the phone or asked them in person. I also wanted to get the students perspective. The students ranged from 5 years old to 34 years of age. The reason for this large range initially was to see if there had been a change in nonverbal language use over time. Surprisingly, some other interesting findings came about and will be discussed below in data analysis. My collection process was the same as the teachers. Both, the Teacher Survey and the Student Survey are attached below the bibliography, in the Appendix.
Data Analysis
All of the teachers felt they used nonverbal language in the classroom. Ten of the eleven teachers said they used it to help them teach and communicate, but not as a skill for students to acquire. Only one teacher said she consciously used it as a subject to be taught to students on better communication skills. When asked, however, if nonverbal language would be beneficial to the students if taught as a skill, all of the teachers quickly responded, "Yes!" The student's responses varied, but were somewhat consistent with in age level. Younger children said their teachers used nonverbal language during songs or story telling, while 8- 14 year olds thought their teachers used it for behavior management. One eight year old did say his teacher used nonverbal language to help explain things in class. When asked if they were ever taught in the classroom how to use nonverbal language to communicate better, fifteen said "No" and the other three said "Yes, but only a little", i.e. look out at the audience when you are talking and not down at your paper. Older students, in college, said they are now learning nonverbal language skills more at the collegiate level. When the students were asked if they would like to learn how to use nonverbal language better so people could understand them better, all but one teenager said, "Yes!" Interestingly, the older college students said something like this, "Yes! Definitely! That would help me so much in my job."
Data Discussion
My survey results suggested that even though teachers thought it would be beneficial for their students to learn nonverbal communication skills, they did not consciously teach it as a skill. They did, however, model it. This explained why people have picked it up enough that it accounted for over half our communication. The fact that most of my 8-14 year olds thought their teachers used it for behavior management, but did not say for communication in teaching or for explaining meaning, suggested that the nonverbal language is subconsciously taught and learned. Just a thought, what percentage of our communication would be nonverbal if students were consciously taught how to use it and interpret it in their lives? I suspect it would be higher. Awareness makes a difference in usage. One of the more interesting and revealing findings from my data was the older students, who have "been out in the real world", all were very definite that they would have liked to learn more skills in nonverbal communication. They now know how important nonverbal language is and how it effects their everyday communication, just as reading and writing. It can be especially critical in a job setting. My final finding that relates to the research above was all of the teachers thought that nonverbal language was beneficial for students to learn, but very few actually taught it or thought of it as a skill. Teachers did not see nonverbal language as important as reading and writing, or they would have taught it.
Implications/classroom applications:
"It is not 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." (Ritts, [n.d.]) Nonverbal language is important to the world of education for several reasons. First, teachers can use nonverbal language to gauge what their students are feeling and understanding. When students first walk into the classroom, they communicate a great deal, often times without knowing it. If a child walks in with slumped shoulders and head bent forward, slowly places his book bag on the hook, slouches in his seat, and lets out a loud yawn, then the child says more with his body than he says with words. If several students exhibit similar behavior, then a teacher can then gauge how she approaches her lesson. Nonverbal language also helps the teacher by giving her "nonverbal cues [during a lesson,] including frantic hand-waving, eye contact, facial expression, and gestures". (Shalleck-Klein, 1998 pg 1) This kind of feedback is essential for a teacher to gauge understanding, attentiveness, and pacing. "One of the most important nonverbal cues in the classroom is eye contact. Establishing eye contact sends the message that the student is receptive to interacting with the teacher." (Shalleck-Klein, 1998 pg.2) Secondly, nonverbal language is important to educators as a skill to be taught in their classrooms. One of our main jobs, as educators, is to provide children with skills or tools to help them be successful adults. Understanding and mastering nonverbal language helps people in their jobs and relationships. In a job setting, one may need to speak in front of others. "Speakers use a wide variety of extra-verbal devices, from emphasis and dramatic pauses to changes in tone or tempo. Speakers also use a broad range of non-verbal clues. They talk with their eyes and their bodies. They use had gestures and facial expressions to convey ideas." (Kurland, 2000 pg.1) Think about interviewing, "it is said that the most critical period in an encounter between two people is the first five minutes." (Wainwright, 1985 pg.23) Nonverbal language plays a big role in that first five minutes; how one shakes hands, eye contact, how one sits, etc.. In relationships, masters of nonverbal language will be able to communicate true meaning and understand what the others are trying to communicate to them. The third implication of nonverbal language in the classroom is the importance of it while working with ELL(English Language Learner) students. When a student comes to class with very little English, nonverbal language is the primary tool for communication. "As we learn a language, we also learn the non-verbal conventions of that language—the meaning of a shrug, a pout, or a smile. Speech thus often includes not only a face-to-face meeting, but also a meeting of the minds." (Kurland, 2000 pg. 1) Nonverbal language varies in meaning from culture to culture. This is important because "culture influences students' language skills and their learning of standard English, the language of education." (Cross-cultural…2001 pg.1) Eye contact in Japan is considered aggressive, challenging, or even rude. In America, eye contact is expected and is a signal that one is interested and engaged in the conversation. Certain gestures are fine in America, but considered vulgar and rude in another. It is important to teach ELL students proximity, as discussed above, so this does not affect their ability to communicate effectively. ELL student need to learn these nonverbal differences so they can truly acquire the language of this culture and so their first nonverbal language does not get in the way of communication or understanding. Some practical ways to implement nonverbal language lessons in the school setting are as follows; · Ask the students to role play circumstances which would require only nonverbal communication. · Play pairing games with eye contact and let the students evaluate how their partner did. · Discuss the different emotions and how they look. Let the students practice with a mirror. Have one student show a facial expression for a response to a provided circumstance. Let the class guess. · Act out spatial etiquette situations. Let them practice with each other. · Play Simon Says show "an emotion" and they need to indicate that emotion with their body. There are units, lesson plans and books with nonverbal games and school wide program suggestions: · http://www.school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/thehumananimal/index.html · http://www.angelfire.com/blues/communication/p2.html · http://www.rideredu/users/suler/bodylang.html · Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success by Marshall P. Duke, Ph.D. · Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures by Desmond Morris –(Great for ELL students) When I go back to teaching, I am going to spend a great deal of time teaching nonverbal language as a skill. I will implement many of these lesson plans and games from the books and websites listed above. It is of great interest to me to see how nonverbal language will affect my students in their speaking and presentation skills. I plan to teach nonverbal language as a tool for better social interaction as well. I would like to see this adopted school wide and with examples from my own classroom, I might be able to influence others in this area. The physical fitness teacher can also very easily play games to help with proximity and spatial awareness. I would like to see our staff attend a SDU (staff development unit) class on nonverbal language and its importance in the classroom.
Conclusion:
Researchers at Emory University "have found that only about 7 percent of our meaning is conveyed through words. The other 92 percent is conveyed through other means such as tone of voice, gesture and facial expression." (Pettus, n.d. pg. 1) In conclusion, if nonverbal language is such a large part of our communication, and it has an effect on people in their jobs, school, relationships, and even their ability to acquire a new language, then we must teach its process and implications in the academic setting. Although the data shows teachers are using it as a tool subconsciously, educators need to teach nonverbal language, consciously, as an acquired skill in communication. "A major responsibility of teachers at all grade levels is to teach the language and communication skills needed for academic success, and for career and social mobility." (Cross-Cultural…2001, pg. 1) Do actions really speak louder than words? Yes, I believe they do.
Bibliography: An overview of nonverbal communication in impersonal relationships (n.d.). pg.1-6, Retrieved June 18,2002 from http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~enhF94/kinesics.html Capper, S. (2000, May 11) pg.1-8, Nonverbal communication and the second language learner: some pedagogic considerations. Retrieved June 18, 2002, from http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/00/may/capper.html Cross-cultural communication (2001, September 6) pg. 1-5 Regional Educational Laboratory, Retrieved June 18, 2002 from http://www.nwrel.org/cnorse/booklets/ccc/table4.html Duke, M., Nowicki, S., Martin, E. (1996) Teaching your child the language of social success. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers, LTD. Kurland, D. (2000) Nonverbal and social aspects of language. pg. 1-3, Retrieved June 1, 2002 from http://www.critical-reading.com/nonverbal.htm Morris, D. (1994) Bodytalk ; the meaning of human gestures. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks Pettus, E. (n.d.) Teaching kids to fit in. Printer Friendly, pg. 1-4, Retrieved June 18, 2002 from http://family.go.com/PrinerFriendly/ Ritts, V., Stein, J.R., (n.d.) pg. 1-3, Six ways to improve your nonverbal communications. Retrieved June 24, 2002, from http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/commun-1 Shalleck-Klein, Joanna (1998, December 17) Nonverbal body language does the talking. Features, pg. 1-4, Retrieved June 23,2002, from http://www.mbhs.edu/silverchips/dec98/features/bodylanguage.html Wainwright, G. (1985) Teach yourself body language. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group Appendix:
Teacher Interview on Nonverbal Language: What do you teach? Do you use nonverbal language, such as facial expressions, head movements, gestures, specific posture or stance, proximity or orientation, or bodily contact, in your classroom? Do you use nonverbal language as a teaching tool and/or do you teach nonverbal language clues as a skill for your students to acquire an awareness of? If yes, how? Do you think teaching nonverbal language as a skill would be beneficial for your students?
Student Survey on Nonverbal Language and the Classroom In the classroom, does your teacher use nonverbal language, like facial expressions, head movements, gestures, posture, stance, or proximity, to communicate a message to you or to help you understand what he/she is trying to say? Have you ever been taught in the classroom how to use body language, such as above, to communicate better? If so, by whom and how? Do you wish you could learn how to better use nonverbal language so that you could be better at helping people understand you?
|
|
|
