Body language in English teaching

牛永慧

Abstract： As a new and exciting science， the study of nonverbal communication dated from 1950s. For a long time， people in daily life normally emphasize the verbal aspect of communication， overlooking the fact that a large amount of the information in face-to-face communication conveyed by the people is nonverbal. We tend to ignore it in our English classroom teaching.

Keywords： nonverbal communication; body language; English teaching

1. Introduction

For a long time， people in daily life normally emphasize the verbal aspect of communication， overlooking the fact that a large amount of the information in face-to-face communication conveyed by the people is nonverbal. In fact， the system of basic communication is composed of both verbal and nonverbal parts.

2. The Application of English Teachers body language in class

For example， when the teacher raises a question in English， an expectant expression she shows can encourage students to think carefully and answer questions actively. If the students answer is correct， a beautiful smile can make the student be very happy and proud; if the students answer is wrong or not completely right， the teacher can shake her head gently or use degree of lip-rounding to hint the student to find the right answer. In English classroom， from an observation of where a student is looking the teacher can infer what the student is looking at， and from knowing what he is looking at the teacher can guess what he or she is interested in， and from what he or she is interested in and the general situation the teacher can usually make a fairly good guess about what he is going to do. A teacher may be considered as boring， stiff and inanimate， if he or she fails to use gestures while speaking. Comparatively， a lively and animated teaching style captures students attention， and makes the material more interesting， facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment. Not all gestures are universal and a lot of gestures vary from culture to culture. For examples： in the United States， “making a circle with ones thumb and index finger while extending the others is emblematic of the word ‘OK; in Japan and Korea it signifies ‘money; and among Arabs this gesture is usually accompanied by a baring of teeth， and together they signify extreme hostility” （Deng Yanchang 45）.There are approximately 1000 different human postures. Posture can tell emotions， deepest feelings， character， and personality. A happy person will relax the body; a strained person stretches the body taut. Posture tells sexual differences. It signals our gender. Samovar states： men and women have characteristically different ways of sitting and standing. For blind and deaf people， touch is the principle means of communication. We know that a slap on the back can mean a touch of friendship or a sign of encouragement. Touch can be divided into five categories： functional-professional， social-polite， friendship-warmth， love-intimacy， and sexual arousal. Touching and being touched are virtually the physical and psychological need of human beings.

3. Suggestions for enhancing proper use of body Language

The teachers play a very important role in English teaching. So they must try their best to learn and use body language， because it can help the teachers regulate the class， promote the teacher-student relationship and improve students cognitive learning. Therefore， the teachers should change the traditional conception of English teaching and introduce nonverbal behaviors in the target culture. Comparing cultural differences in nonverbal communication is essential to raise students awareness of cultural differences in nonverbal communication. Students play a key role in classroom nonverbal communication， for they are inevitably influenced by their teachers body language from time to time. To better this nonverbal communication and help students acquire more from classroom teaching， it is necessary to improve students recognition and understanding of their teachers nonverbal behaviors. It is necessary for the students to build up a foundation for understanding nonverbal behaviors through readings and lectures. With the development of mass media， there are multiple ways for students to learn about the surrounding world， such as video tapes， and movies， which present people with vivid pictures and sounds.

Works Cited：

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