Unit5
Nonverbal
Communication
Friday, April 12, 2013
An idiom
• There is a language in her
eyes, her cheeks, her lip,
and her feet.
—Shakespeare
Nonverbal Communication
categories
function
Complement the verbal message
Kinesics
Contradict the verbal message
Oculesics
Regulate the interaction
Facial expression
Substitute for the verbal channel
Reading One
• Ⅰ. Significance of Nonverbal Communication
① Nonverbal behavior accounts for much of the
meaning we derive from conversation.
cognitive &. affective content
② Nonverbal behavior is significant because it
spontaneously reflects the subconscious.
③ Sometimes we cannot communicate.
• Ⅱ. Kinesics: Our Body Language
• gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, body
positions, body movements, and forms of greeting
and their relationship to communication
• Ⅲ. Oculesics
• eye behavior
• Ⅳ. Facial Expression
• 6 universal emotions: sadness, happiness, disgust,
anger, and fear (neurophysiological)
Activity – What?
• Explain the following items with your body language,
no words (spoken or written form)
• Requirements
• 1.Pair work
• 2. A student use the body language to explain the
item to B from the PPT.
• 3. B student faces the class when A see the picture
and then turn around to guess what does A mean.
• 4. the pair that can guess the more items in one
minute will be the winner.
reading
Hand-pulled noodle
Complain in telephone
Thumb a lift
校长喻世友
Canteen
Reading Two
•
Nonverbal Communication and Intercultural
Competence
• norm: standard, eg. of behavior or ability that is
regarded as average or generally acceptable
Those gestures we love when we
are taking photos
The cowboy stance - his crosses one’s
fingers point at what he wants
arms across the
makes a person appear smalleryou to notice
chest - opposition
and more submissive
The Head Tilt
Misunderstanding
“OK”
•
An American engineer, sent to Germany by
his U.S. company who had purchased a German
firm, was working side by side with a German
engineer on a piece of equipment. When the
American engineer made a suggestion for
improving the new machine, the German
engineer followed the suggestion and asked his
American counterpart whether or not he had
done it correctly. The American replied by
giving the U.S. American “OK” gesture, making
a circle with the thumb and forefinger. The
German engineer put down his tools and walked
away, refusing further communication with the
American engineer.
•
The American later learned from one of the
supervisors the significance of this gesture to a
German: “You asshole.”
Gesturing in Various Cultures
• spitting on another person is a sign of
contempt in Europe and North
America but can be an affectionate
blessing if done in a certain way
among the Masai of Kenya(肯尼亚).
• The “V” for victory gesture, holding
two fingers upright, with palm and
fingers faced outward, is widely used
in the U.S. and many other countries.
In England, however, it is a crude
connotation when used with the palm
in.
• 美国人伸出食指，表示一，德国人认为
是指二
• The vertical horns gesture (raised fist, index finger
and little finger extended) has a positive connotation
associated with the University of Texas Longhorn
football team. This gesture has an insulting
connotation in Italy, but in Brazil and Venezuela it is
a sign for good luck. In other cultures, such as Italy
and Malta, the horns are a symbol to ward off evil
spirits.
• finger quote-mark gesture
•
What’s the gesture?
Clasp your hands or
√
Cross your fingers
• Fingers crossed
A symbol for good luck
or giving the user the
ability to lie
culture-specific
outside of conscious
awareness
• Suggestions:
P66-67
① No set of behaviors is universally correct.
② Monitor your emotional reactions to differences in
nonverbal behaviors
③ Observation of general tendencies
④ Be tentative in your interpretations and
generalizations
⑤ Look for exceptions to your generalizations
⑥ Practice to improve your ability in observing,
evaluating, and behaving in appropriate and
effective ways.
General Guidelines
U.S. Gestures
• Interest is expressed by maintaining eye contact with
the speaker, smiling, and nodding the head.
• Nervousness is sometimes shown by fidgeting, failing
to give the speaker eye contact, or jingling keys or
money in your pocket.
• Suspiciousness is indicated by glancing away or
touching your nose, eyes, or ears.
• Defensiveness is indicated by crossing your arms
over your chest, making fisted gestures, or crossing
your legs.
• Lack of interest or boredom is indicated by glancing
repeatedly at your watch or staring at the ceiling or
Axtell, Gestures
floor or out the window when
a person is speaking.
How to analyze a case?
• 1. indicate the final result
•
These two people failed to communicate with
each other.
• 2. figure out the problems
• 3. offer suggestions
•
In order to solve the above problems, there are
several suggestions as follows.
First,
Second,
Third
Case study – compliments
(P58)
• Situation:
• Jonathan is a teacher in an adult school class in the United States.
After class, he is speaking to Ann, one of his students.
• Jonathan: Ann, your English is improving. I am pleased with
your work.
• Ann: (Looking down) Oh, no, my English is not very good.
• J: Why do you say that, Ann? You are doing very well in class.
• A: No, I am not a good student.
• J: Ann, you’re making progress in this class. You should be
proud of your English.
• A: No, it’s not true. You are a good teacher, but I am not a good
student.
• J: (He is surprised by her response and wonders why she thinks
her English is so bad. He doesn’t know what to say and wonders
if he should stop giving her compliments.)
•
•
These two people failed to communicate with each other.
Because the behavior that Ann refused whatever Jonathan said made
Jonathan embarrassed and confused. It partly results from different
communication styles as well as the difference in verbal communication.
•
In order to solve the above problems, there are several suggestions as
follows.
•
First, both of the two speakers had better learn about the differences in
western and eastern communication styles. For westerners, communication
is the way to express one’s idea, in doing so, they can achieve their
personal goals. While for easterners, who stress harmony, communication
is regarded a process where all parties are searching to develop and
maintain a social relationship. It’s the reason why Ann say “You are a good
teacher, but I am not a good student.”
Second, due to the different attitudes toward compliments, both of them
should understand each other. Sometimes Ann’s modesty would be
mistaken as a fishing for compliments in U.S.A. As a result, she is
supposed to say thank you instead of negative reply in the intercultural
communication.
Third, the behavior of looking down when two people are talking is not
acceptable in the western culture while it is regarded as polite in eastern
culture. If Jonathan ask the reason why Ann did so, there would be no
misunderstanding anymore.