1. Culture and nonverbal
communication
Tips for teaching culture: practical
approaches to intercultural
communication
By Ann C. Wintergerst & Joe McVeigh
Mahsa Farahanynia
2016
2. 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)
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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)
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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.
10. 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
11. 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
12. 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.
13. 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
14. 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.
15. 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
16. 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.
17. 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
18. 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
19. 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.
20. 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).
21. 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)
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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
26.
27.
28.
29. 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.
