Culture and nonverbal communication

Tips for teaching culture: practical approaches to intercultural

communicationBy Ann C. Wintergerst & Joe McVeigh

Mahsa Farahanynia

2016

Nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication includes the way people interact in time and in space.

It includes:

1. Facial expression and sounds (intonational patterns)

2. Proxemics (distance)

3. Kinesics (movement)

4. Haptics (touch)

Tips for teaching nonverbal communication

1. Identify basic concepts of nonverbal communication

2. Emphasize the connection between verbal and nonverbal communication

3. Understand the functions of the nonverbal communication

4. Help students understand the concepts of physical space

5. Introduce various concepts of time

6. Emphasize differences between low- and high-context communication

7. Explore kinesics, movement, and gestures in nonverbal communication

1. Identify basic concepts of nonverbal communication Nonverbal communication functions for us at a

primal level and therefore is extremely important in the communication of feelings and emotions.

The primacy of nonverbal communication can be seen from the earliest stages when infants communicate through movements before mastering language.

Nonverbal communication and its interpretation vary from culture to culture and understanding its different forms and functions is an important part of learning to communicate across culture.

What the researcher says If lg is the key to the core of a culture, nonverbal communication is

indeed the heart of each culture. It is omnipresent throughout the culture.

To enter fully into a new culture accurately, we need to identify the rules, be aware of the underlying cultural values, and understand the connection between the functions and interpretations of the nonverbal behavior.

Failure to recognize nonverbal signs a breakdown in communication since 65% of a conversation is communicated through nonverbal cues.

Nonverbal behavior carries a heavy affective load (Japanese’ smile shows anger, sadness, or failure, while American’s smile show joy, happiness, or contentment)

What teachers can do

Build student awareness of different nonverbal communication

signals using critical incidents in which nonverbal communication

causes some type of cultural misunderstanding

2. Emphasize the connection between verbal and nonverbal communication

“Action speak louder than words”

A combination of nonverbal and verbal behavior appears to have greater impact than mere verbal behavior

What the research says Nonverbal communication (or the silent language) refers to all types

of nonverbal interaction.

1. paralanguage: Language of body and contextual elements (body movement, the use of time and space)

2. Voice: Stress, volume, rate of delivery

There are lots of subtleties in using these cues, for example:

1. When saying “excuse me” in English with a drop in pitch shows anger, anxiety, frustration, impatience, while saying it with a slight rising shows friendliness and relaxed attitude

2. In US →okay; In Brazil → an insult; In Japan → money

What the research says

Nonverbal cues (intentional or unintentional) may underscore, replace, or even disagree the meaning of the messages conveyed with words.

Nonverbal cues are affected by cultural, situational, and individual variations, personality, gender, socioeconomic status, a special communicative context.

Nonverbal behavior does not necessarily involve nonverbal communication.

Nodding is nonverbal communication when a message of agreement or disagreement is sent or received.

What teachers can do

Point out the importance of nonverbal messages during the

delivery of verbal messages. It is possible that what a person says

with words can differ from what she/he demonstrates through

gestures and actions. Students need to learn how to decipher

nonverbal codes and interpret them appropriately.

Play the part of a speaker whose nonverbal communication gives a

different message from his/her spoken words.

Model appropriate nonverbal communication in L2

3. Understand the functions of the nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication is used to convey meaning or

emotions and often to achieve a particular purpose.

e.g., Nodding means:

1. The answer is correct

2. We agree with comments

3. We are too busy to deal with the question, & need to go on

What the research says Nonverbal communication can vary not in use but also in function. Various functions of nonverbal communication:

1. Reflecting identity: Unspoken signals such as our choice of clothes, jewelry, vocalics (voice quantifiers such as accent, pitch, volume, tempos, etc.) and our vocalization (sounds such as laughing, crying, moaning, hesitation, silence) send a message about who we are.

2. Expression of emotion and attitudes through kinesics (facial expression, gestures, and vocalics, or voice quantifiers)

3. Conversation management via kinesics and Oculesics (eye movement)

4. Forming impression via facial expressions & posture

5. Creating interpersonal attraction via facial expressions &posture We are culturally conditioned to examine the posture & facial expression of

others to learn about them.

What teachers can do

Demonstrate the use of tone, facial expressions, gesture, eye

contact, touch, and space.

Check whether they understand how these nonverbal patterns

reflect different cultural backgrounds, practices, and perspectives

and the effect that they may have on a conversation by asking

them to do role plays.

Improve students’ conversational management via nonverbal cues

to help them succeed in academic and social communication

tasks

4. Help students understand the concepts of physical space

Spatial behaviors are part of communication process and carry a greater weight in conveying meaning than the spoken word.

What the research says Proxemics: The use of physical space, such as distance between people

& physical positioning of people in relation to one another If the space between two people reduced to nothing, then they are

touching. Haptics, or touch, refers to behaviors with hands, lips, and arms. This behavior can vary in duration, intensity, and frequency.

The perception, function, and meaning of touch can vary across cultures because different cultures have different standards, expectations, and rules.

Examples: handshaking, hugging, kicking, poking, or grabbing

What teachers can do

Build their own awareness of the functions of proxemics and haptics in nonverbal communication.

Show how distance and touching are viewed in their own culture and in L2

Show appropriate behavior such as greetings or leave-takings or the amount of pressure and the length of time for a handshake.

5. Introduce various concepts of time

How important is time? Is time sth to be spent, wasted, or given?

Concepts of punctuality are a matter of cultural perspective, what is considered on time in one culture doesn’t necessarily the same in another culture

What the research says Time is viewed differently by Western and Estern cultures, and within these

cultures, ideas about time differ from one country to another. Americans Time is money They are fast-paced, action-oriented, and

linear time-oriented

Time as sth fixed in nature, sth around them from which they can not escape, and sth that is ever-present in their environment

Eastern countries Time is not as linear or capable of being managed but as cyclic, flexible, or adaptable, and sth that comes around again and again

Chronemics from three perspectives:

1. Monochromic time (M-time): Do one thing at a time (North America and northern Europeans, Swiss)(time is fixed)

2. Polychromic time (P-time): Do multiple things at a time (time is flexible, Latin Americans)

3. Synchrony: Coordinating actions in time through mutual understanding

What teachers can do

Introduce various concepts of time to students.

Use explicit examples in the classroom of ways that time works in

different cultures.

Lead discussions about time, punctuality, and cultural differences

It is important that the teacher makes sure students understand what is

considered appropriate regarding time in the target culture.

6. Emphasize differences between low- and high-context communication

Some cultures communicate more explicitly. Messages are

spelled out directly in speech and writing (tell it like it is).

In other cultures they are communicated indirectly (beat around

the bush).

What the research says In high-context messages, large part of it is conveyed through context or

social situation and very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. Members of collectivistic communication

In low-context message, the situation plays a minor role in communication since they are largely conveyed through spoken language Members of individualistic cultures

Three other characteristics:

1. The use of overt or covert message (overt message in low-context communication and covert message in high-context communication)

2. The importance of in-groups and out-groups (low flexibility in high-context communication and much grater flexibility in low-context communication )

3. The orientation to time (flexible nature of time in high-context communication and fixed nature of time in low-context communication)

What teachers can do

Moving from high-context communication to low-context

communication or vice versa is challenging for students.

Teachers can illustrate the differences between high- and low-

context cultures by providing examples of behaviors.

Teachers can share their own experiences and examples with their

students.

The students themselves can also be valuable resources for each

other.

7. Explore kinesics, movement, and gestures in nonverbal communication

The way in which we move our bodies also send messages to our

listeners.

The body can signal a message that seems to be quite different

from the one being conveyed verbally.

It is declared that body language is more reliable than spoken

language when attempting to identify which of the two

conflicting meanings conveys the true feelings of the speaker.

What the research says

Birdwhistell (1970) called body language kinesics and identified meaningful units of body movement, called kinemes.

Kinemes includes facial expressions and many other movements such as those involving the eyes, head, shoulder, and hands. (posture and pantomime)

Affective considerations can be conveyed kinesically.

What the research says

Differences in kinesics:

1. Italians, South Americans, most Latin Americans, Africans, and Middle Easterners use a lot of gestures.

2. Japanese, Chinese, and Finns use only minimal body language.

We send messages through eye contact or Oculesics (such as gaze, blinking, glancing, squinting)

Two type of people (Lewis, 2000)

1. Multiactive people (talkative and people-oriented ones)

2. Quiet-group people

What teachers can do

Teachers can help students explore kinesics, movement, and

gestures by demonstrating appropriate and inappropriate behavior

in the classroom by engaging students in role plays, showing

films, or displaying pictures that feature different kinds of

nonverbal behavior.

Teachers must be aware that the nonverbal dimension plays an

important role in their own interaction as well.