What is Nonverbal Communication?

Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture; body language or posture; touch, facial expression and eye gaze; object communication such as clothing, hairstyles; symbols and infographics; prosodic features of speech such as intonation and stress and other paralinguistic features of speech such as voice quality, emotion and speaking style.

98G中国英语学习网

 98G中国英语学习网

Researchers in this field usually use a strict sense of the term "verbal", meaning "of or concerned with words," and do not use "verbal communication" as a synonym for oral or spoken communication. Thus, sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words — although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication can occur through any sensory channel — sight, sound, smell, touch or taste. It may come in many forms at the same time for example, a person's dress, tone of voice, attitude, and movement all contribute to the communication going on in a certain situation.

98G中国英语学习网

 98G中国英语学习网

This presentation will examine four main areas of nonverbal communication and show how they are relevant to teaching. The four areas are the different forms nonverbal communication can take, nonverbal communication and discipline in the classroom, the development of nonverbal communication and group differences in nonverbal communication. There will then follow a brief point about the some precautions teachers should make when using graphs and when laying out their room. Due to time constraints detailed coverage of these topics will not be possible but a few important points will be explained.

98G中国英语学习网