Functions Of Using Body Language

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

1. Introduction

Body language has been using in English teaching for a long time, especially in middle school English classroom, which indicates that the use of teachers’ body language is indispensable in teaching. According to Professor Hu Wenzhong (1995) , people speak with their vocal organs, but converse with their whole body. And Miller (1981:4-6) suggests that only 7% of a message is sent through words with the remaining 93% sent through facial expressions (55%) and vocal intonation (38%), which also emphasizes the status of body language. And he gives four reasons why human beings use body language to such a degree:

(1) Words have limitations. It is much easier to explain the shape of something or to give directions by using gestures or head nods;

(2) Body language is powerful. It primarily expresses inner feelings and evokes immediate action and response.

(3) Nonverbal messages are likely to be genuine. They are not as easily controlled as spoken words;

(4) Nonverbal signals can express feelings of superiority or dislike or feelings of etiquette or rules that prevent from being stated verbally. (Miller, 1981)

Some studies also show that students absorb the knowledge deeply while teachers use rich and humorous body language in class because it provides more space for students’ imagination and more chances to extend the abilities of their study. It has been discovered that teacher’s facial expressions are more effective than speech in drawing students’ attention and response (Wolfgang, 1979). The linguists Stevic and Bavnell (Alastair Pennycook, 1985) stated that effective kinesics can be a great asset to teachers in managing classroom interaction through lessening the inhibitions which often plague students and reducing teachers’ talking time. The effect of using body language in middle school English teaching is obvious.

However, the skills of using body language and the principles of its application cannot be ignored, which demonstrate that using body language effectively and properly does play an important role in English teaching. In order to demonstrate the importance and effects of using body language in middle school English classrooms, to meet the urgent need of English learning, and to raise the awareness of using body language in English teaching at middle school, this thesis explores the history and current situation of body language, and its characteristics, functions, effects and the principles of its application.

2. Review of the Literature

2. 1 Definition of Body Language

2.1. 1 Definition

Body language is an important medium for people to communicate by means of posture, gesture, facial expressions, eye contact, etc., which people use to show their emotions and attitudes, to exchange information, to indicate their purposes. As one of the most important channels in human communication, this nonverbal communication has the following functions: emphasizing and repeating information; replenishing and adding information; substituting; showing emotions and attitudes. Body language can not only substitute part of the functions of verbal communication, but also extend the scope of communication so that human can clearly show or hide their true feelings. As well, it enlarges the information that is present and deepens the content itself, which makes the information more vivid and more impressive.

On Nonverbal Communication, there are various definitions and different explanations from different perspectives. The famous work, Communication between Cultures (Samvour, Porter, Stephani, 2000) stated that nonverbal communication involves all those nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver. All these nonverbal stimuli are the subject in the study of nonverbal communication. Among all these, the specific study of communicative aspects of gesture and bodily movement is known as "kinesics" (Richmond, McCroskey, and Payne, 1991:13). On the basis of this, Birdwhistell gave the label "kinesics" to systematic study of body movement. Body movement and position typically include gestures, postures, facial expressions and eye contact (Knapp and Hall, 1997:9). And this is what is called "Body Language" here.

In middle school English classroom, teachers and students not only convey messages through verbal communication, but also through nonverbal communication. Thus, body language is quite important for teachers.

2.1. 2 Characteristics

Compare with verbal communication, body language has its own characteristics.

(1) Authenticity

According to Wang Yaohui (2004:36), "Our society is complex, and language is a reflection of this society, which possesses fraudulence and obscurity in the long-term interests fight of the community. Thus, body language is much more authentic while compared with this." It clearly shows that human’s true feelings and attitudes toward others, which cannot be hidden. Therefore, teachers can definitely understand students’ feelings and thoughts in class.

(2) Intuition

Mehrabian’s formula (Total liking or feeling=7% verbal liking or feeling + 38% vocal liking or feeling + 55% facial liking or feeling) (1971:43-44) revealed the overwhelming impact of body language in communication, which indicates that human beings get most of the information from visual impression. And abstract objects become easier, clearer and more recognizable through body language (Xing Dianpu, 2005:37). Using body language in middle school makes English teaching more vivid and effective.

(3) Flexibility

Psychological studies show that there are more 250,000 kinds of facial expressions, 7,777 kinds of gestures and 30 kinds of eye behaviors. Human beings use different kinds of body languages in different occasions, which show its flexibility. And this flexibility provides wider space for teachers’ abilities, leading to a better quality of teaching.

(4) Subsidiary

Though verbal communication is the major means of conveying messages in English classroom, body language indeed plays a significant role in some specific situations, which can make the messages more attractive, more active and more effective. At the same time, it reveals the emotive meanings of words through performing body languages in the right way, which directly replaces "language" itself or serves as supplement (Zhang Dajun, 2004) .

(5) Otherness

Because of different environments, cultures, customs, religions, etc., the use of body language is different. Even though in the same country or region, one specific kind of body language has different meanings. For example, nodding means "Yes" in most of the countries, but in India, it means "No"; and in China, people give enthusiastic thumbs-ups to show their appreciation, however, in the UK, US and Australia, people usually get a free ride by giving thumbs-ups. It helps students develop a great interest in English and foreign cultures, while using body language in teaching.

2. 2 Functions of Using Body Language in Middle School English Teaching

2.2. 1 Classifications of Body Language

People communicate with each other by means of nodding, shaking heads, waving, shrugging, eye contacting, etc. As for the categories of body language, different scholars have different opinions. However, body language generally involves systematic movements which include the following: posture, gesture, facial expressions, eye contact and body distance.

Functions of Posture

Posture includes sitting posture, standing posture and walking posture and it refers to the way you carry your body, especially your back, shoulders and head. It is the usual means that people use to perform their body. It is also a key indicator of the intensity of some emotional states.

Posture shows its functions mainly in the following three aspects:

Posture reflects status relationships. For example, ancient emperors usually sat on the throne, lording it over his subjects, which expressed imperial status of emperors. And in ancient times, ordinary people should get on their knees when they met officials.

Posture reveals sexual differences. Men and women have characteristic differences in sitting and standing. For example, a woman sits with knees together or ankles crossed. If she wants to cross her legs, she can only choose to cross on knee over the other. On the contrary, a man would like to sit casually and he enjoys total freedom of posture. He can stand with legs widely spread and arms akimbo, sit with his feet up, cross the ankle or leg over the knee of the other.

Posture expresses emotions. For example, when a person is sad, he/she tries to support the body with something as if he/she was seeking others’ aid; however, when he/she is happy, he/she will relax the body; and a strained person stretches the body taut.

Posture is a crucial part in English classrooms when teachers and students have conversations face to face. It is vital in the face-to-face conversation in that it could indicate degree of alertness of sleepiness, and some more specific reactions as well. If listeners are bored, they prop their heads up; if interested, they lean forward; if they disagree, they tend to fold their arms. (Argyle, 1969:56-63) For example, teachers who stand confidently in the classroom not only convey a message of knowledgeable but also heighten the atmosphere of the classroom. Vigorous posture can effectively draw students’ attention. Moreover, standing or sitting in a relaxing and professional manner can arouse students’ positive attitude and show that you are approachable and friendly to students.

Functions of Gesture

Generally speaking, people try to understand others’ mental state or mental activity and express their own intentions through gesture. It refers to specific body movements which carry different meanings. According to Bi Jiwan (1991), gestures are the core of body language. Under normal circumstances, we can interpret other people’s psychological activities or psychological state by hand touch or hand movements. Meanwhile, we convey our own intentions to them.

Gesture shows its functions mainly in the following two aspects:

Gestures coordinate speech. When giving speeches of making conversations, a great number of gestures occur. The more a person speaks or talks, the more gestures he/she displays. Generally speaking, people use gestures for two purposes: to help describe something or to reinforce an idea. For example, when describing the size or shape of something, a person naturally uses his/her hands to show the dimensions.

Gestures indicate personalities. Different gestures, to some extent, show different character traits. A person who always employs spire-like gestures means that he/she is confident; a person who always touches his/her nose means that he/she seems to be dishonest or nervous.

In English classroom, teacher’s gestures have three functions: first, to clarify and describe facts; second, to emphasize facts; third, to draw students’ attention. For example, when teaching personal pronouns, a teacher points his/her finger to himself/herself and says "I" and he/she points to a student when saying "you". Gestures, especially hand gestures, are most obvious and influential to students. A lively and animated gesture captures students’ attention, makes the lesson more vivid and interesting, facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment in classroom. However, if a teacher fails to gesture while speaking, he/she may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. The key to using gestures in English teaching is whether they can be used appropriately and timely. As a result, teachers should add some appropriate and accurate gestures to strengthen their words and stimulate students’ interest in class.

Functions of Facial Expressions

Face is the most versatile and noted part of human body and there are thousands of different facial expressions, which shows the complexity of it. However, the importance of all these complex facial expressions, especially smiling, cannot be ignored in English teaching. According to Miller, 7% of the general effect of information comes from the words, 38% from tones and 55% from facial expressions (1971:43-44). Thus, we can see the significance of facial expressions in human communication.

The most important and obvious function of facial expression is to express emotions and feelings. Facial expression can reflect one’s happiness, sadness, fear, anger, etc. It is sometimes not easily to read one’s feelings and emotions because people tend to conceal their negative emotions. But no matter how hard one tries to hide his/her real emotions, his/her body will leak message about his/her real mental state.

Facial expression shows one’s understanding or his/her opinion about something. If a person understands or agrees with the speaker, he/she will nod his/her head and shows a clear expression about the matter; on the contrary, if he/she is confused or disagrees with the speaker, he/she will shake his/her head and frown to show his dislike or displeasure.

To some degree, facial expressions can tell character traits. Many people reveal their personality through facial expressions. For instance, a person always with smiles is kind or sanguine; with straight face, serious; with frowns, melancholy, etc.

Students will look at teachers’ face while listening to them and decent and vivid facial expressions can catch students’ attention and make them listen more carefully. Teachers’ facial expressions should be kind, influential, and affable. Meanwhile, teachers should devote their passion and enthusiasm to teaching in order to establish a friendly relationship between themselves and students, and create a harmonious environment for study. Thus, students will quickly involve themselves actively in learning and focus on study. In this way, teachers can have good communication with students and improve the quality of teaching.

Among so many facial expressions, smiles and laughter are most common, which convey friendliness, approval, pleasure, satisfaction, joy and merriment. Teachers can gain students’ love and respect through smiling. A smiling teacher will give students warmth and encourage them to be active in the classroom. For instance, when a student finishes an assignment successfully, teachers will nod and smile, which shows their approval and praise; when a student fails to answer a question, teachers should also give them a warm smile, which can encourage them never give up and try again. Besides, study itself is sometimes difficult and boring and students just grasp limited knowledge of English in different stages, and they easily feel anxious and nervous. And a smiling teacher can alleviate students’ tension and anxiety, reduce their resistance and fatigue, and relieve their pressure on learning English.

Functions of Eye Contact

Eye contact means looking directly or indirectly at each other. By means of eye contact, people can send countless messages. In most interpersonal relationships, eye contact signals to others that the looker is interested or not, attentive or not, or willing to develop a relationship or not. Thus, a primary function of eye contact is to establish relationship (Jellison & Ickes, 1974).

According to Knapp (1978), eye contact has four major functions: 1) to establish and define relationships, 2) to control channels of communication, 3) to display emotions, and 4) to reduce distraction.

First, eye contact helps to establish and define relationships. Eye contact signals the nature of relationship, whether positive (an attentive glance) or negative (avoidance of eye contact). When people want to talk to the other, they will naturally search for eye contact with that person. Once they succeed in getting even one of it, their relationship is developed and they start conversation.

Second, eye contact can control channels of communication. Eye contact signals whether the channels of communication are opened or closed and it also ensures the smooth flow of interactions. People will know that whether they can continue their conversation or not because they get the signals.

Third, eye contact can display emotions. "Eyes are the window of the soul" which implies that eyes show people’s emotions and they never lie. Though people can control their body movements and facial expressions to hide their true feelings, they can hardly control their eye behaviors.

Fourth, eye contact helps to reduce distraction. Sometimes it is boring during a conversation or there are so many audiovisual stimuli around; therefore, it is difficult for people to concentrate for a long time. At this time, eye contact plays an important role. People use eye contact to draw others’ attention from distraction.

Eye contact is one of the most important signals of nonverbal communication in classroom. Teachers often look at students to determine whether students are paying attention or understand what they are talking about so that they know whether they can go on or not. When a student does not pay much attention in class or talks to others, teachers will stop to gaze at him/her so as to bring him/her back to study. When a student intends to cheat in an exam, he/she will never dare to do so if a teacher gazes at him/her seriously. In contrast, teachers who employ amiable eye contact in the classroom encourage the students to involve themselves in classroom activities (Zhuang Jinying, 1993: 172-173). Apart from these, teachers also look at students’ eyes to look for the signs of boredom, confusion, fatigue, enthusiasm, etc.

3. Practical Uses of Body Language in Middle School English Teaching

3. 1 Lexical Teaching

Lexical teaching is an important part of English teaching. However, it is difficult for students to understand and master the exact meaning of each word if the teacher just simply read and explain the word. Or even though they can understand the meaning of some words, they cannot grasp the usages of them, especially the words that express actions; therefore, the advantages of body languages are obvious.

When teaching some words about animals, teachers can use their hands, legs etc. to help. For example, while teaching the word "monkey", teachers can mimic the actions of a monkey, looking at the distant place through their hands. While teaching some verbs like "open" or "close", teachers can walk to the door or window and do the actions "open/close the door", and then the students can get the exact meaning of "open" or "close". When teaching some words to describe dimensions and shapes, body languages also play a significant role. Many teachers use body languages to help students remember the meaning of different English words in this way.

3. 2 Conversational and Textual Teaching

Dialogues are often closely connected with the daily life of teaching. Teachers should change their rigid teaching methods and try to make the conversation or text more vivid and interesting so that students can understand and learn quickly. When making a conversation or teaching a text in class, teachers can do some actions or make some facial expressions according to the conversation or text. Here are some examples:

Example 1

A: Hi, Tom! (Smile) Can I borrow your ruler? (Make an expression to show your sincerity)

B: Sorry! (Make an expression to show that you are sorry) I don’t have one .(Shake your hand or head to show that you don’t have one) Ask Lily. (Use your finger and point to Lily) I think she has one.

A: OK. (Make an expression to show that you are happy) Thanks a lot. (Smile)

Example 2

A: What’s the matter with my watch? (Make an expression to show your worry)

B: Look! It’s under the desk! (Point to the desk)

A: Oh no! It doesn’t work! (Pick up the watch and put it near your ear)

Many teachers always try to create a vivid environment for students to learn English so that they can learn quickly and efficiently through these simple body languages and at the same time, it can arouse students’ interest in learning English. It can also enable students to connect learning to daily life, which makes study easier and more effective.

4. Suggestions to improve the use of Body Language in Middle School English Teaching

Communication is very important in the process of learning, and body language has become a necessary tool in teaching. The successful communication requires a high level of English proficiency as well as a good command of body language. The importance and effects of body language require people to improve their competence in its usage and some problems need to be realized and solved in this process.

Since the learning of body language is of great importance and significance in English classroom, it is necessary for teachers and students to understand the functions and effects of body language and to use it appropriately. The following are some suggestions for both teachers and students.

4.1 Suggestions for English Teachers

4.1.1 Raising Students’ Attention to Learning Body Language

The existence of different languages has different cultural backgrounds, which makes it possible for different cultural and linguistic patterns to exist. For English learners, it is helpful to be aware of and learn the nonverbal communication behaviors in English community. The useful effects of body language attract people not only to learn it but also to practice it in the real communicative occasions.

4.1.2 Improving the Ability of Using Body Language

Teachers should improve their competence of using body language. Teachers are the models of students. What they do, speak, behave will have great influence on students unconsciously. Students will simulate teachers through watching. And there is no doubt that the proper use of body language will affect teaching results variedly. Meanwhile, teachers should help students to improve their own competence to understand and employ body language in classroom, which contributes a lot to communication between teachers and students.

4.1.3 Creating a Warm Atmosphere in Classroom

Students’ motivation is an important factor in the process of learning and teaching, and creating an optimal learning environment is necessary to stimulate students’ motivation in study. Teachers should encourage students to express themselves in their native culture and the target culture. If the classroom atmosphere is warm and friendly, students will be more expressive, and show their emotions more freely so that they will participate more and more in classroom activities.

4.2 Suggestions for English Learners

4.2.1 Developing the Awareness of Different Body Language

Each culture has its own set of norms regarding the appropriateness of different types of expressions, gestures, eye contact, etc. These differences are manifested in many ways. Consequently, an awareness of different body languages according to different cultures will help us to achieve successful communication. First of all, we should learn to respect different cultures so that we can respect different body languages. It is easy to ridicule or blame others for their being wrong if you feel uncomfortable with their behaviors. Thus, it is important to remember that behavioral codes are largely learned from their cultures and families.

4.2.2 Collecting Information about Body Language

After knowing the importance of body language in the process of learning, students need to take some actions themselves. It is necessary to look on the differences of different body languages with an open and flexible attitude, but which is still far from enough if they want to grasp the competence of the usage of body language. To fulfill this aim, students need to take some autonomous learning. To collect information about body language is a piece of good advice.

4.2.3 Seizing Every Opportunity to Acquire the Knowledge of Body Language

Students are strongly recommended to grasp every opportunity to learn different body languages, especially, to learn it from real communication.

Students can make full use of the culture-related materials. To get familiar with the materials, students can use the classroom learning and practice as a good way to accomplish the target culture acquisition. Besides, they can not only improve their ability of using body language, but also learn from native speakers.

5. Conclusion

Body language, in fact, plays an important role in teaching English, which cannot be ignored by educators, and this thesis aims to help people understand the effects of using it in middle school. Since body language is vivid and effective, it is usually used as a visual aid in middle school English teaching, which is good for students understanding and at the same time, it helps to establish a friendly relationship between teachers and students. If it is used appropriately and timely, it can activate the atmosphere in classroom, arouse students’ interest in learning English and improve the quality and efficiency both in teaching and learning. In addition, it can better students’ understanding of the cultural backgrounds of English society (different gestures or postures, etc. have different meanings), which helps them a lot in being more native.

As a result, educators should highlight the position of body language in English teaching and put more emphasis on it. Teachers should make full use of body language to organize teaching, develop a good relationship with students, inspire students’ creativity and improve the quality of teaching. However, teachers should be aware of the principles of using body language and improve their skills of using them. Body languages do play their significant role as long as they are used adequately and effectively.