Abstract: Non-verbal behavior is an important means of interpersonal communication. Integrated with the verbal communication, it conveys certain messages and helps psychological communication among people. This paper attempts to analyze its influence on oral English classes in terms of its implication, categories, function, etc. and illustrates its positive influence on oral English teaching. In addition, it is suggested oral English teachers should train students’ skills of applying non-verbal behavior consciously in communication.
Key words: Non-verbal behavior; Oral English classes; English teaching
摘要：非言语行为是人际间交流的重要形式，它通常与言语交际结合进行，传递一定的信息，帮助人际的心理沟通。本文从非言语行为的含义，种类，功能等方面分析了其在英语口语教学中的积极影响与应用。文章也表明了英语口语教师应该培养学生在交流中有意识应用非言语行为的技能。
关键词：非言语行为；英语口语课堂；英语教学
Introduction
On our daily interaction, we communicate both verbally and nonverbally. However，most people are hardly aware of the importance of nonverbal communication and do not realize its potential for communication. The knowledge of non-verbal behavior is necessary and meaningful because it plays such an important role in social communication.
1 Introduction of non-verbal behavior
It is known that verbal behavior and non-verbal behavior are two means of interpersonal communication. However, in the course of communication study, people tend to attach great importance to language itself but people usually ignore the non-verbal behavior. In fact, non-verbal behavior is as important as verbal communication. As a scholar put it, “Non-verbal behavior can repeat, contradict, complement or emphasis verbal behavior.”[1] We communicate much information nonverbally in conversations. The use of verbal communication is obvious in daily life, while non-verbal behavior can also express ideas and thoughts. Like culture, it also has the narrow meaning and broad meaning. The latter refers to all the communicative behavior except verbal communication while the former only concerns with the gesture.
1. 1 A brief review of non-verbal behavior studies
The scientific study of non-verbal behavior primarily started after the Second World War. One of the most influential pre-twentieth century works was Darwin’s Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals in 1872. This work spawned the modern study of facial expression, and many of his observations and ideas have been validated by other researchers [2].
In the first half of the twentieth century, the study of non-verbal behavior still remained unsystematic. There were only isolated studies of voice, physical appearance, dress and facial expressions. The three works of extraordinary influence in the study of non-verbal behavior are Kretschmer’s book Physique and Character in 1925, Sheldon’s book The Variations of Human Physique in 1940, and Efron’s book Gesture and Environment in 1941.
In 1950s, there was a significant increase in the number of non-verbal behavior research efforts. Birdwhistell’s Introduction to Kinesics in 1952 and Hall’s Silent Language in 1959 are two milestones of this decade. In 1956, Ruesch and Kees produced a book entitled Non-Verbal Communication: Notes on the Visual Perception of Human Relations. This was the first book to use the term non-verbal behavior in its title. The 1960s produced an “unclear explosion” of non-verbal studies. During this time, the classic theoretical piece was Ekman’s and Friesen’s article on the origins, usage, and coding of non-verbal behavior. This article distinguished five areas of non-verbal study that comprise a major part of Ekman’s and Friesen’s research---emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators and adaptors.
The 1970s proved to be a time of summarizing and synthesizing on non-verbal studies. It began with Fast’s Body Language in 1970. This book was the best-selling volume at that time and it has now been translated into several Chinese versions.
The 1980s were a time of further development of non-verbal behavior studies. Some nonverbal researches of this decade focused on identifying the ways a variety of nonverbal signals work together to accomplish common communicative goals. Some scholars also stated that we could not fully understand the role of non-verbal behavior in accomplishing these goals unless we also looked at the role of co-occurring verbal behavior and tried to develop theories about how various verbal and nonverbal cues interact in the process [3]. The research on non-verbal behavior in our country began from 1980s. Scholars such as Hu Wenzhong, Bi Jiewan, Deng Yianchang and Liu Runqing have done some research work. There is an increasing amount of research findings in this area.
1. 2 Definition of non-verbal behavior
There is no shortage of definitions for non-verbal behavior. Different scholars have made different efforts to define it. According to Knapp the phrase non-verbal behavior refers to communication effected by means other than words (assuming words are the verbal element) [4]. Some linguists also claim that non-verbal behavior is communication without the use of words[5]. Ruesch and Kees give a similar statement when saying that non-verbal behavior indicates all communicative behaviors except oral speech [5]. Other linguists take into account social conventions in defining non-verbal behavior. Burgoon and Saine point out that non-verbal behavior is the qualities or behaviors known to all in a community without the use of words, and that such qualities or behaviors are intentionally or thought to be intentionally given by the speaker and consciously received and responded to by the listener[5]. This definition lays emphasis on the role of shared social conventions in non-verbal behavior. Besides social conventions, many other factors are also important in helping convey nonverbal meanings. Samovar and Porter have made some attempts to offer a better picture of the issue. When defining non-verbal behavior, Samovar and Porter propose “Non-verbal behavior 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.”[6]Here, the role of the environment, the message value of nonverbal stimuli and the communication setting are emphasized as the three important factors in non-verbal behavior. This definition not only marks the boundaries of non-verbal behavior, but also reflects how the process actually works.
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