The Effective Use of Nonverbal Communication in Middle School English Teaching

1、非语言交际在中学英语教学the effective use of nonverbal communication in middle school english teachingabstractfor 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 peo

2、ple is nonverbal. nonverbal communication is so basic that the teachers tend to take it for granted and always ignore it in the english classroom teaching. moreover, according to scientific researches, the nonverbal cues are more appropriate to be used in the english classroom teaching in middle sch

3、ools and they can enrich the teaching method, stimulate the students interest, and better the teaching effect. thus, english teachers, as the disseminators of english knowledge, should be equipped with nonverbal communicative competence first. the teacher should know the importance of nonverbal comm

4、unication and utilize it in his/her classroom teaching so as to improve the effect of the lesson.the paper holds that the study of nonverbal language is beneficial not only to our linguistic theory but also to the classroom teaching and learning. in the middle school english teaching, teachers are n

5、ot aware of the importance of nonverbal communication and they lack the ways of using nonverbal communication. so the main nonverbal communication in english classroom teaching is being discussed, such as facial expression, gesture, posture, eye contact and nonverbal sound. then it is discussed how

6、to make full use of teachers role in nonverbal communication. the teacher should be a careful observer of the students nonverbal behaviors, use nonverbal communication flexibly, and create a warm atmosphere in classroom. thus, we can have a good effect in middle school english teaching.key wordsmidd

7、le school english teaching; nonverbal communication; effective 摘要长期以来人们在注重语言交际的研究，而忽视了一个重要的事实：在面对面的交流中，大部分的信息是通过非语言来传递的，非语言交际的运用比言辞更为普遍。由于非语言交际的浅显，在英语教学中它总是被忽视。然而非语言交际对教学有着强有力的影响。非语言交际的运用对教师从每个学生的各个方面获取和理解其传递的信息极具有价值。英语教师作为英语知识的传播者应首先具备非语言交际能力。非语言交际适用于中学英语课堂教学，它丰富了教学手段，激发了学生的学习兴趣，从而改善了教学效果。非语言交际的研究不

8、仅有利于语言理论的发展，而且还利于课堂教学质量的提高和文化意识的培养。而在日常中学英语教学中，很多教师没有意识到非语言交际的重要性，缺乏非语言交际的能力。所以本篇论文主要讨论在课堂教学中有哪些重要的非语言交际方式，以及教师如何有效的应用非语言交际来提高教学效果。关键词中学英语教学；非语言交际；有效应用introductionnonverbal communication, the nonlinguistic form of communicational activities, plays a very important role in the communication process;

9、it compensates, strengthens, substitutes and adjusts verbal communication. it is helpful to make the students understand their teachers easily. and it is well known that the classroom learning is one of the most important ways that the students learn english. in this way teachers are in great demand

10、 to organize the classes in english and create english-learning circumstances. however, with the limitation of students vocabulary, teachers have to simplify their teaching language with the help of nonverbal behavior. teachers appearance and artifacts affect, either positively or negatively, commun

11、ication in the classroomin fact, nonverbal communication between teachers and students is very important in foreign language teaching. middle school english teaching should include nonverbal communication in addition to verbal communication because nonverbal cues can improve the effect of classroom

12、instruction and further cultivate the students interest in english learning. many researchers hold that the relationship between teachers and students can be improved if teachers make effective use of nonverbal communication. besides, students cognitive ability and efficiency in learning will be imp

13、roved. therefore, teachers need to understand the use of nonverbal communication, such as gesture, posture, facial expression and tone of voice. because nonverbal communication conveys many messages in the classroom, the nonverbal communicative competence becomes invaluable for teachers in getting t

14、he message across to class and understanding the messages, which are sending interest or confrontation. foreign language teaching in the classroom, as a process of trans-language and trans-cultural exchange of ideas, should include nonverbal communication in addition to verbal communication. english

15、 teacher, as the disseminator of english knowledge, should be equipped with nonverbal communicative competence.the increasing need for more efficient communication has helped forward the study of nonverbal communication. so this paper tries to discuss not only the problems of teachers in using nonve

16、rbal communication but also how to make full use of nonverbal communication in chinese middle school english class.i. the problems of teachers in using nonverbal communicationfor a long time, english classroom teaching has focused largely on the verbal aspect of communication in spite of the knowled

17、ge that indicates that the nonverbal aspects of communication are more potent than verbal; that nonverbal behavior is largely out of awareness. teachers like others have been taught in school that the written and spoken word is supreme and the impact of nonverbal communication has been largely ignor

18、ed. because of the focus on verbal behavior, teachers are not normally aware of the nonverbal signals they give off. thus, there are many problems in using nonverbal communication existing in english teaching.a. teachers unawareness of the importance of nonverbal communicationit is known that commun

19、ication consists of two categories: verbal and nonverbal. most middle school english teachers pay much attention to verbal communication and neglect the existence of nonverbal cues in classroom. they use traditional teaching method to finish their teaching task. they just keep talking in english cla

20、ss and neglect the nonverbal communication between them and their students. classroom teaching, as an important social interaction, in essence, is an activity of transmitting messages through a double channel and a process of naturally influencing and promoting between the teacher and students by me

21、ans of information transmission. in other words, the teacher and students convey messages by both verbal and nonverbal cues. western scholars believe that nonverbal communication in classroom plays a more important role in the study of students than that of regular teaching itself. however, most tea

22、chers give much more emphasis on verbal forms and they are usually unconscious of the existence of nonverbal forms in classroom interaction.in fact, nonverbal communication is very important in middle school english classroom teaching. birdwhistell states that in a two-person conversation the verbal

23、 channel carries less than 35% of a messages social meaning and more than 65% of the meaning is communicated nonverbally.therefore, middle school english teachers should be informed about the significance of nonverbal communication in middle school english teaching, just as they are informed about t

24、he significance of verbal communication. only when english teachers are armed with knowledge of nonverbal communication can they become qualified teachers.b. lack of nonverbal communication between teachers and studentsin the past, middle school english teaching is always teacher-centered. the stude

25、nts just listen or take notes, that is to say they are passive learners. there is hardly any communication between teachers and students, let alone nonverbal communication. some english teachers in china just stand in the front of the classroom. they do not move about in the front part of classroom

26、or move around the classroom. some students resent it if the distance between them and the teacher is too long, for distance is a sign of coldness. most chinese students expect that their teachers can move appropriately about in the front part of classrooms or to move around the classroom instead of

27、 just standing at the very front between the blackboard and the platform. this indicates the teachers who conduct their classes while standing or walking among their students are viewed more positively than those teachers who stand at the front of the classrooms. they are seen as friendlier and are

28、more effective than those who stand farther away from the students. conversely, some teachers just stand behind the teachers desk throughout the process of class. those teachers neglect the fact that “motionless teachers can bore students”. those teachers placing too much emphasis on their powerful

29、figure in classroom fail to realize that using more of nonverbal communication can create such a relaxed atmosphere that the students may feel more included and liked, and that students may focus more of their attention on the teacher, speak more, write more, and generally behave more in ways that t

30、he teacher approves. lack of nonverbal communication between teachers and students, to a certain degree, results in the inefficiency in middle school english teaching.c. teachers lack of ways of using nonverbal communicationbecause of the traditional educational system in china, teachers and parents

31、 pay more attention to the marks students get in their exams. in english classroom teaching, teachers try their best to help their students get high marks, so teachers focus largely on vocabulary, grammar, and so on. they neglect the fact that the ultimate goal of english teaching and learning is to

32、 communicate with others. thus, the teacher hardly knows what is nonverbal communication and do not know how to use it in classroom teaching. they only emphasizes on how to convey the knowledge and make the students get a high score.at the same time, nonverbal cues are difficult to interpret and und

33、erstand, especially in english classroom teaching. firstly, nonverbal cues have multiple meanings, that is to say, a single behavior may have different meaning. unlike words, most nonverbal cues lack acceptable dictionary definitions. interpretations are also unreliable because they depend so heavil

34、y on our perception. secondly, nonverbal cues are interdependent. the meaning of one nonverbal cue often depends on the correct interpretation of several other, simultaneous cues. thirdly, many nonverbal behaviors are subtle and difficult to observe. a student may overlook a cue; but another student

35、 may notice it immediately, and thus multiple interpretations may be drawn from the same situation. thus, chinese teachers do not know how to use nonverbal communication because they lack the ways of using nonverbal communication. if the teacher wants to transmit his/her meaning to his/her students

36、correctly through nonverbal cues, he/she must be good at fostering the ways of using nonverbal communication. but owing to the traditional educational system in china and the difficult interpretation and understanding of nonverbal cues, chinese teachers are not familiar with the using of nonverbal c

37、ommunication.ii. the main nonverbal communication in english classroom teachingeffective nonverbal communication is closely related to the successful teaching and most aspects of nonverbal communication are learned automatically and unconsciously as language is learned. to improve teachers and stude

38、nts awareness and skills of nonverbal communication, it is very necessary to make both teachers and students sensitive to nonverbal cues in classroom. for the sake of convenience, this part will cover the main nonverbal communication in middle school english teaching: facial expression, gesture, pos

39、ture, eye contact, and nonverbal sound.a. facial expressionthe face is the most expressive part of our body, and researchers say there are about 250,000 different expressions. macro and micro facial expressions are strong messages and are usually connected to feelings, attitudes, and personal belief

40、 systems. facial expression between teachers and students is one of the most important types of nonverbal signals in the classroom, and face cues are the first information that we give to or receive from others. researches show that children judge whether the overall meaning of a nonverbal signal is

41、 friendly or negative primarily from the facial expressions and eye contact. in english classes, the lively facial expressions can promote a supportive and non-threatening classroom atmosphere, which aids students positive attitudes and corresponding achievement. when the teacher raises a question i

42、n english, an expectant expression he/she shows can encourage students to think carefully and answer actively. if the students answer is correct, especially when the question is a little more difficult, a pleasantly surprised look on the teachers face with nod can make the student wild with joy; if

43、the students answer is wrong or not completely right, the teacher can use degree of lip-rounding to hint the student to find the right answer. sometimes an unconscious frown can make a sensitive student correct his answer immediately. it is much better than just saying “no” or “wrong” by doing so. f

44、or it can protect the students proper pride. in addition, a teacher should often smile in class. a smiling teacher is thought to convey warmth and encouragement in all cultures. in other words, if a teacher smiles frequently, she will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. co

45、nversely, frowning can cause confusion because it can imply concentration as well as threat or anger. students may use the frown when listening intently in class with puzzled or surprised expression and the teacher may use it to stress what he is talking about. chinese teachers are accustomed to con

46、trolling their emotions or even hiding their true feelings and emotions. moreover, in chinese tradition, the teachers dominated by confucianism, are required to be serious before students, otherwise, they feel their image of authority will be damaged. in fact, the serious facial expressions of teach

47、ers will not produce positive effect for classroom teaching.a teacher can also use students facial expressions as valuable sources of feedback. when, for example, delivering a lecture a teacher should use students expression to determine whether or not to slow down, speed up, or in some other way mo

48、dify his presentation. an effective middle school english teacher usually uses facial expressions to signal to his students how they should react to the material the teacher is discussing: when it is interesting the teacher raises his brows, when it is difficult he looks puzzled to signal that he ha

49、s just asked a difficult question which the students need to think about.b. gesturethe body speaks through gestures. in a broad sense, gestures refer to specific body movements that carry meaning. in a narrow sense, gestures are hand movements that are closely related to speech, illustrating or supp

50、lementing it. gestures are the most obvious and most influential to students. if a teacher fails to gesture while speaking, he or she may be perceived as boring, stiff and inanimate. a lively and animated teaching style captures students attention, and makes the material more interesting, facilitate

51、s learning and provides a bit of entertainment. most commonly, teachers use gestures as descriptors. they employ their hand and arm movements to physically depict conceptual, intellectual, abstract, or narrative elements of the presentation. using gestures in english classroom teaching can make some

52、 complex grammar points easier to understand. this can easily be demonstrated with hand movements and gestures etc. one technique is that a teacher makes his/her two hands into loose fists and shows that one represents it and the represents is. she can then bring them together to give a clear visual

53、 demonstration of its. another similar technique, which has been very popular, is to use fingers. the teacher points to each of her fingers in turn, giving each finger a word. then she lets students see her bring two fingers together to show the contraction. gestures can also help organize classroom

54、 teaching. for example, chain work is an often-used activity in english classroom, but it is troublesome for the teacher to explain it clearly in english even in chinese. here the teacher can use a lively gesture two hands leapfrog, which can be quickly and easily understood by all the students.howe

55、ver, whatever gestures teachers use, they should be sure to have them come naturally from the material they are presenting, from the setting they are being in, from the audience the students they are facing. most students believe that they cannot accept the fact that their english teachers who are n

56、ative chinese behave or move exaggeratingly as foreign teachers. the indication is that students expect natural gestures, reflecting who the teachers are and how teachers are related to their material and to their students. c. postureposture refers to the general way we carry our body, especially th

57、e back, shoulders and head while standing, lying, etc. posture, as the term suggests, can be in static state. the position of the entire body plays an important role in interpreting nonverbal communication. posture can express emotions. take a student in his/her class for example, we will find that

58、his posture shifts with what the teacher is talking about. an interesting topic will make the sitting student bend the body forward and keep legs apart, feet back, and an uninteresting topic may make him/her lower the head and lean the body against one arm, or keep head on his/her hand, the upper bo

59、dy back and legs forward, or simply turn his/her face away so as not to watch the teacher. an observant teacher can tell whether the students are interesting or not, when the students have understood the content presented or when they are having trouble in grasping what the teachers are conveying.for a middle school english teacher, standing or sitting in a relaxing professional manner, is a positive posture, which can arouse students positive attitude. this kind of posture can show that the teac